Electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial Si without substrate heating by ultraclean processing

By Ar plasma-enhanced decomposition of SiH4 using ultraclean electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma processing, low-temperature Si epitaxy has been achieved even without external substrate heating for the first time. Ar plasma pre-exposure experiments have revealed that Ar ion energies lower than a few eV are favorable for Si epitaxy at low temperatures, in order to suppress plasma damage on the surface crystallinity. Furthermore, it has been found that addition of H2 to the Ar plasma is extremely effective to remove the native oxide layer on the Si surface.