Improvement of SOS Device Performance by Solid-Phase Epitaxy

Abstract

Crystalline quality in the whole region of silicon film on sapphire substrate has been improved by doubly applying solid-phase epitaxial regrowth combined with amorphization of both the silicon surface and the silicon-sapphire interface regions of SOS. Observations, by Rutherford backscattering and chemical delineation, indicate that planar defect density in the film becomes less than 1/100 of that in an as-grown film. Effective mobilities of n- and p-channel FETs in the improved film are 520 and 225 cm2/V·s, which are 1.3 times and 1.1 times larger than those in the as-grown film, respectively. A significantly reduced drain leakage current of 1.8×1012 A/50 µm for n-channel FET is obtained, whose value is about 1/100 of those in as-grown samples. The higher mobility and lower leakage current thus obtained, should be attributed to the drastic improvement of crystalline quality in the whole region of SOS by the double solid-phase epitaxy.