Photoreflectance Characterization of Silicon Films on Insulator

Abstract

ABSTRACTPhotoreflectance (PR) was used to study crystalline quality and stress in silicon films on insulator. The position and amplitude of the 3.4 eV PR silicon structure was monitored for both MBE silicon on sapphire (SOS) and SIMOX structures. The SOS film thicknesses ranged from 6 to 4000 nm. The shift in energy of the 3.4 eV structure from its bulk position is dependent on the sample thickness and on the strain in the films. In the SIMOX case, the amplitude of the 3.4 eV PR signal provided information about the crystalline quality of the top silicon layer for a set of six samples, each one removed at a different step of a process involving three implantation-anneal cycles. In this case the PR signal appeared to deteriorate with the each cycle undergone by the samples. Further investigations are needed to resolve the discrepancy bet ween these SOS results and the ones obtained in an earlier set of measurements.