Title: A rapid thermal processing system for the deposition of silicon carbide layers on silicon

Authors: John H. Montgomery, Fred H. Ruddell, David W. McNeill, B. Mervyn Armstrong, Harold S. Gamble

Addresses: Institute of Advanced Microelectronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT9 5AH, UK. ' Institute of Advanced Microelectronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT9 5AH, UK. ' Institute of Advanced Microelectronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT9 5AH, UK. ' Institute of Advanced Microelectronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT9 5AH, UK. ' Institute of Advanced Microelectronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Queen's University of Belfast, Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT9 5AH, UK

Abstract: This paper describes the construction of a novel rapid thermal chemical vapour deposition reactor which has been designed to minimise the thermal budget in the deposition of silicon carbide on silicon. The reactor utilises tungsten halogen lamps to heat the single process wafer to temperature sup to 1080°C in a few seconds in a turbomolecular-pumped quartz reactor tube. Epitaxially aligned silicon was initially deposited in the system at temperatures down to 590°C using silane gas. Conditions for the minimisation of oxygen contamination in the growing films are established. Using propanelsilane gas chemistry, stoichiometric silicon carbide layers have been achieved at a process temperature of 970°C. Deposition rates of typically 0.3µ/min ensure the process wafer is exposed to high temperatures for less than 60 seconds. Initial layers were polycrystalline in structure. Layers have been in-situ doped using phosphine gas, yielding concentrations up to 8 x 10²⁰ cm³. Test transistors produced with the silicon carbide layer incorporated as a wide band-gap emitter demonstrated the heteroemitter effect.

Keywords: bipolar transistors; chemical vapour deposition; CVD; epitaxy; heterojunction; rapid thermal processing; silicon carbide; oxygen contamination; layered silicon; wafer fabrication.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.1996.036326

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 1996 Vol.11 No.1/2, pp.166 - 177

Published online: 02 Nov 2010 *

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