Silicon epitaxial growth accelerated by parallel Langmuir processes using SiH2Cl2 and SiH3CH3 gases

Abstract

The silicon epitaxial growth behaviour was studied as an application of the parallel-Langmuir process using SiH2Cl2 gas and SiH3CH3 gas. The SiH3CH3 gas was used for producing the SiHx gas in situ by thermal decomposition in the reactor. With the increasing gas concentration of SiH3CH3, several results were obtained: (i) the silicon epitaxial growth rate increased exceeding the value saturated using the SiH2Cl2, (ii) the gas phase concentrations of the chlorosilanes at the exhaust decreased, (iii) the byproduct deposition at the exhaust decreased, and (iv) the gas phase concentration of HCl at the exhaust decreased. We conclude that the SiHx helped consume the SiH2Cl2 gas for the production of a silicon epitaxial film with reductions in the byproduct deposition. Additionally, SiHx might produce SiH2Cl2 in the gas phase by reaction with HCl gas.