Kinetic and structural study of the epitaxial realignment of polycrystalline Si films

Abstract

The epitaxial realignment of undoped and As doped polysilicon films onto crystalline silicon substrates induced by high-temperature rapid-thermal annealing has been investigated. It is shown that the realignment mode and the kinetics of the process are intimately related to the microcrystalline structure of the layers under investigation, to the morphology of the native oxide film present at the interface, and to the presence of As atoms dispersed in the deposited layers. For layers having fine grain dimensions, compared to the film thickness, the realignment takes place via the motion of the crystal-polysilicon interface towards the surface. This is observed in undoped layers and in layers which have been subjected to a high-temperature anneal before As doping. The preimplant anneal disrupts the interfacial oxide film and reduces the thermal cycle needed to complete the realignment of the polysilicon layers. In layers which have not experienced any thermal treatment before As doping, it is seen that the grain size first increases to dimensions on the order of the film thickness, and the realignment transformation then proceeds by lateral growth of epitaxial columns in a manner similar to secondary grain growth. The kinetics of both realignment modes are thermally activated and the atomic limiting processes have been tentatively identified to be As diffusion in bulk Si for As doped layers and Si self diffusion for undoped films. The effect of the microcrystalline structure on the realignment kinetics is attributed to its relationship with the driving force governing the realignment transformation.