Effect of Solid-State Epitaxial Recrystallization on Defect Density in Ultrathin Silicon-on-Sapphire Layers

Abstract

The main technological problem in the manufacture of electronics on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) structures is the high density of defects in silicon-on-sapphire layers. The modern method of obtaining ultrathin SOS structures using solid-phase epitaxial recrystallization and pyrogenic thinning can significantly reduce the defectiveness in these layers. Nevertheless, the effect of the defectiveness of submicron SOS layers on the structural perfection of ultrathin layers remains unclear. In this work, ultrathin (100 nm) SOS structures have been obtained on submicron (300 nm) SOS structures with different structural quality. The crystallinity of 300 nm layers before the recrystallization process and ultrathin layers has been determined using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that the lowest values of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.19°–0.20° have been observed for an ultrathin SOS structure obtained based on the most structurally perfect SOS layers of 300 nm. It has been shown that a more perfect near-surface layer of the basic SOS structure of 300 nm and a double implantation regime make it possible to reduce the density of structural defects in the ultrathin Si layer by an order of magnitude to achieve ~1 × 10⁴ cm^–1.