Low-temperature silicon homoepitaxial growth by pulsed magnetron sputtering

Abstract Undoped silicon (Si) films have been deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrates by pulsed magnetron sputtering in pure Ar atmosphere at substrate temperatures T S between 300 and 450 °C. Rutherford backscattering channeling (RBS-C) experiments reveal high structural order indicative of epitaxial growth at T S of 375–400 °C. The disorder depth profiles derived from RBS-C exhibit defective initial film growth which is markedly reduced in the film volume. Homoepitaxial silicon film growth is observed in this optimal temperature range up to a thickness of 1.6 μm and with growth rates of about 20 nm/min. At higher and lower substrate temperatures, the disorder in the films is considerably enhanced.