Crystal structure analysis of epitaxial silicon films formed by a low kinetic energy particle process

Formation of high quality epitaxial silicon films at 350 °C by a low kinetic energy particle process has been verified by a series of crystal structure analyses performed on these films. It was found that the crystallinity of a grown film is drastically changed by the energy of Ar ions concurrently bombarding the growing silicon film surface. The epitaxially grown film with an optimum ion bombardment energy is defect-free both at the interface and in the bulk of the film as revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.