Elimination of Subboundaries from Zone-Melting-Recrystallized Silicon-On-Insulator Films

Abstract

ABSTRACTSince the introduction of zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR)for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) films, subboundaries (low-angle grain boundaries) have been the major crystalline defects in recrystallized films. By using an improved ZMR procedure, subboundaries have been eliminated over large areas. The improvements include the use of 1-µm-thick polycrystalline-Si films deposited on 2-µm-thick thermal SiO2 film (instead of 0.5-µm-thick Si and SiO2 films), a new encapsulation technique, and improved control of the thermal gradient during ZMR. Recrystallized SOI films without subboundaries contain isolated dislocations with densities <2 × 106 cm−2.