Surface Cleaning Effects of Silicon Substrates by ECR Hydrogen Plasma on Subsequent Homoepitaxial Growth

Abstract

We have demonstrated the preparation of the almost defect-free homoepitaxial layer and the defective layer, respectively, with and without applying the in-situ cleaning of the silicon substrate surface using electron cyclotron resonance hydrogen plasma. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy indicated that the interfacial oxygen and carbon concentrations, respectively, decreased and increased with the in-situ cleaning. We have investigated the effect of process parameters such as microwave power, d.c bias, and cleaning time, on the epitaxial growth, by evaluating the cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images of the subsequently deposited Si homoepitaxial film.