Low-temperature epitaxial growth of Si by electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition

Abstract We report on a study of low-temperature epitaxy at 325°C on Si(100), (111), (311), and (011) by electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD) with a growth rate of 10–12 nm/min. Epitaxial films grown on Si(100) exhibit a well-defined and smooth interface and a well-ordered lattice structure up to a layer thickness of more than 300 nm. Beyond a critical thickness of approximately 500 nm we observe a slow transition from the crystalline to the amorphous state by the formation of isolated conically shaped amorphous regions. At a thickness of 1.6 μm only 10–15% of the surface consist of these amorphous cones. The critical epitaxial thickness h epi depends on the crystallographic orientation of the substrate decreasing in the sequence h epi (100)≫ h epi (311)> h epi (111)> h epi (011).