Structural and electronic properties of ultrathin polycrystalline Si layers on glass prepared by aluminum-induced layer exchange

We prepared ultrathin polycrystalline silicon layers (5–100nm) by the aluminum-induced layer exchange process. An Al/oxide/amorphous Si layer stack was annealed at temperatures below 577°C, leading to a layer exchange and the crystallization of the silicon. The process dynamics, structural and electronic properties have been studied. In addition to the well known dependence on the annealing temperature, we found an increase of the nucleation density with layer thickness. Raman spectroscopy shows a good crystalline quality down to a layer thickness of 10nm. Hole concentrations of the p-type layers are between 5×1018 and 9×1019cm−3, depending on layer thickness and annealing temperature.

[1]  L. Ley,et al.  The one phonon Raman spectrum in microcrystalline silicon , 1981 .

[2]  Mark T. Kief,et al.  In-situ ellipsometric measurements of thin film aluminum oxidation , 2000, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[3]  S. A. Solin,et al.  Raman Spectrum of Wurtzite Silicon , 1973 .

[4]  Evangelos Anastassakis,et al.  Strain characterization of polycrystalline diamond and silicon systems , 1999 .

[5]  T. Quinn,et al.  A simple model explaining the preferential (1 0 0) orientation of silicon thin films made by aluminum-induced layer exchange , 2006 .

[6]  W. Fuhs,et al.  Aluminum-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon , 2002 .

[7]  M. Stutzmann,et al.  Thin polycrystalline SiGe films by aluminium‐induced layer exchange , 2004 .

[8]  O. Nast,et al.  Elucidation of the layer exchange mechanism in the formation of polycrystalline silicon by aluminum-induced crystallization , 2000 .

[9]  M. Cardona,et al.  Effect of Carrier Concentration on the Raman Frequencies of Si and Ge , 1972 .

[10]  Alistair B. Sproul,et al.  Aluminum-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon on glass substrates above and below the eutectic temperature , 1998 .

[11]  F. Trumbore,et al.  Solid solubilities of impurity elements in germanium and silicon , 1960 .

[12]  J. E. Smith,et al.  Raman Spectra of Amorphous Si and Related Tetrahedrally Bonded Semiconductors , 1971 .

[13]  S. Louie,et al.  Large enhancement of boron solubility in silicon due to biaxial stress , 2002 .

[14]  M. Stutzmann,et al.  Aluminum-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon–germanium thin films , 2004 .