Challenges in Surface Science for a P-in-Si Quantum Computer — Phosphine Adsorption/Incorporation and Epitaxial Si Encapsulation

Abstract

We present three important results relating to the fabrication of a quantum computer in silicon: (i) the interaction of the dopant gas phosphine with Si(001), (ii) a comparison of the morphology of epitaxial Si layers grown on clean and on monohydride-terminated Si(001), and (iii) a direct measure of the segregation/diffusion of incorporated P atoms during Si epitaxial growth and annealing. After low phosphine (PH3) dosing of a Si(001) surface dual bias scanning tunneling microscopy was used to identify the PH x(x = 2, 3) species on the surface. Subsequent annealing to 350°C resulted in the P atom from the PH x molecule being incorporated into the surface to form Si–P heterodimers. The threefold coordination that results from incorporation is expected to be advantageous for phosphorus quantum bit fabrication since it will reduce P segregation and diffusion during Si epitaxial overgrowth. One question to be addressed in the encapsulation process for quantum bits is whether the H resist layer needs to be removed or whether we can grow through the hydrogen layer. We demonstrate that five-monolayer-thick epitaxial Si layers deposited at low temperature (250°C) using molecular beam epitaxy have a significantly lower roughness and defect density when grown on a clean Si(001) surface compared to a H-terminated surface. Attempts to encapsulate phosphorus quantum bits at 260°C and to recover the surface quality of the epitaxial layer resulted in P atoms segregating and diffusing to the surface. These results suggest that the hydrogen layer is desorbed first before the P atoms are encapsulated in epitaxial silicon grown at very low temperature (below 250°C) to minimise phosphorus segregation.