Cone Structure Formation by Preferred Growth of Random Nuclei in Chemical Vapor Deposited Epitaxial Silicon Films

Abstract

Systematic creation of abnormal structures in silicon epitaxial growth is studied. The abnormalities are induced by randomly dispersing 2–4 μm sized diamond particles onto silicon substrates. When the epitaxial plane is not the fastest growing one, elongated crystallites form a radial pattern from the particles enveloped in the epitaxial film, resulting in cone structures much larger than the seed particles (see Figure).