Layer transfer of ultrathin Ge crystal segregated on Al/Ge(111) structure

Abstract

Effects of the surface modification by O2 plasma exposure on the Al/Ge(111) structure have been investigated in order to get an insight into a layer transfer technique of the ultrathin Ge layer segregated on the Al/Ge(111) structure toward the device fabrication, and then the wafer bonding of the Al/Ge(111) structure to the thermally-grown SiO2/Si structure has been demonstrated. The O2 plasma treatment and the subsequent pure water rinse were found to be effective to form the hydrophilic surface of the Al/Ge(111) structure with a suppression of the segregated Ge layer oxidation. The Al/Ge(111) structure with the hydrophilic surface was then bonded to the SiO2/Si substrate, and its bonding strength was enough to perform Ge thinning by the chemical mechanical polishing and the wet-chemical etching using H2O2-based solutions. Ohmic contact of the ring-type device pattern with the segregated Ge/Al stack was achieved by using the remaining p-type Ge substrate as the contact pads.