L. K. Orlov

Kinetics of disilane molecule decomposition on the growth surface of silicon in vacuum gas-phase epitaxy reactors

The range of the characteristic decomposition rates of dihydride molecule radicals adsorbed by the silicon surface in the temperature interval 450–700°C is experimentally found for a number of kinetic models. A relationship between the rate of silicon atom incorporation into a growing crystal and the characteristic rate of disilane molecule pyrolysis on the silicon surface is found. The temperature dependence of the rate of disilane fragment decomposition on the silicon surface is nonmonotonic, and its run depends on temperature conditions. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the molecular decomposition rate on the growth surface is described by a superposition of two activation curves with various activation energies. The activation energies depend on the peculiarity of interaction between the molecular beam and the silicon surface when the filling of surface states with hydrogen is low and high.

Specificity of Mono- and Disilane Decomposition at Silicon Surface under Conditions of Epitaxial Growth

Basic kinetic parameters of surface hydrogen desorption and of adsorbed silicon hydrides decomposition has been evaluated by kinetic simulation based on data of the technological experiments on silicon layer growth at 450–700°C. For the molecular epitaxial growth, the silicon surface population with silicon hydrides fragments has been estimated. The relationship between the surface hydrides pyrolysis frequency and the rate of silicon atoms incorporation into the growing crystal has been found.

Peculiarities of the growth kinetics of silicon-germanium alloy layers from silane and germane with an additional heated element in the vacuum chamber

To study the disintegration of the molecules of hydrides at the surface of the growing layer and their influence on the rate of the epitaxial process a model of the growth kinetics of Si1−xGex alloy layers from silane and germane by the molecular beam epitaxy method with SiH4 and GeH4 gas sources is considered. Through comparison of numerical simulation data and experimental relationships, the steady-state growth kinetics has been studied and a comparative analysis carried out of the efficiency of entry of Ge(Si) atoms into the growing layer both in the presence of Si and Ge atomic flows in the reactor (the so-called hot-wire method) and in their absence. The growth rates obtained with this method of epitaxial growth and with one of its modifications where the use is made of a sublimating silicon bar as an additional heated element have been compared. Peculiarities in the behavior of the dependence of the layer growth rate on its composition have been revealed and explained.

Features and mechanisms of growth of cubic silicon carbide films on silicon

The mechanisms and specific features of the growth of silicon carbide layers through vacuum chemical epitaxy in the range of growth temperatures from 1000 to 700°C have been considered. The structure of the heterojunction formed has been studied using the results of the performed investigations of photoluminescence spectra in the near-infrared wavelength range and the data obtained from the mass spectrometric analysis. It has been found that, in the silicon layer adjacent to the 3C-SiC/Si heterojunction, the concentration of point defects significantly increases and the dislocation structure is not pronounced. According to the morphological examinations of the surface of the growing film, by analogy with the theory of thermal oxidation of silicon, the theory of carbidization of surface silicon layers has been constructed. A distinctive feature of the model under consideration is the inclusion of the counter diffusion fluxes of silicon atoms from the substrate to the surface of the structure. The growth rate of films and the activation energy of diffusion processes have been estimated. The performed experiments in combination with the developed growth model have explained the aggregates of voids observed in practice under the silicon carbide layer formed in the silicon matrix and the possibility of forming a developed surface morphology (the island growth of films) even under conditions using only one flow of hydrocarbons in the reactor.

Specific features and mechanisms of photoluminescence of nanostructured silicon carbide films grown on silicon in vacuum

The light-emitting properties of cubic silicon carbide films grown by vacuum vapor phase epitaxy on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates under conditions of decreased growth temperatures (Tgr ∼ 900–700°C) have been discussed. Structural investigations have revealed a nanocrystalline structure and, simultaneously, a homogeneity of the phase composition of the grown 3C-SiC films. Photoluminescence spectra of these structures under excitation of the electronic subsystem by a helium-cadmium laser (λexcit = 325 nm) are characterized by a rather intense luminescence band with the maximum shifted toward the ultraviolet (∼3 eV) region of the spectral range. It has been found that the integral curve of photoluminescence at low temperatures of measurements is split into a set of Lorentzian components. The correlation between these components and the specific features of the crystal structure of the grown silicon carbide layers has been analyzed.

Kinetics of surface pyrolysis of a silane–germane gas mixture under conditions of epitaxial film deposition of Si1–xGex solid solutions

Specific features of the pyrolysis of hydride molecules on the surface of a Si1–xGex film under conditions of epitaxial film deposition of a mixture of silicon and germanium hydrides have been studied. Temperature dependences of the kinetic coefficients responsible for the rate of hydrogen desorption from the Si1–xGex film surface and the rate of dissociation of gas molecule radicals adsorbed by the surface of the growing film have been obtained for the first time, using the developed kinetic models of surface pyrolysis and the results of engineering experiments in the temperature range 450–800°C. A correlation between the dissociation frequencies of silane and germane molecules, as well as a correlation of the dissociation frequencies with other kinetic parameters of the system were revealed.

Photoluminescence of nanostructured cubic-lattice silicon carbide films grown on a silicon wafer

The light-emitting properties of cubic-lattice silicon carbide SiC films grown on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates with VPE at low temperatures (Tgr ∼ 700°C) are discussed. Investigations of the grown films reveal a homogeneous nanocrystalline structure involving only the 3C-SiC phase. When the electron subsystem of the structure is excited by a He-Cd laser emitting at λexit = 325 nm, the photoluminescence (PL) spectra contain a rather strong emission band shifted by about 3 eV toward a short-wave spectral region. At low temperatures, the PL integral curve is split into a set of Lorentz components. The relation between these components and the peculiarities of the energy spectrum of electrons in the nanocrystalline grains of the silicon carbide layers is discussed.

Effect of atomic silicon and germanium beams on the growth kinetics of Si 1 – x Ge x layers in Si–GeH 4 molecular beam epitaxy

The steady-state kinetics of growth of Si1 – xGex layers in one version of hybrid molecular beam epitaxy with a molecular germane source and a sublimating silicon bar has been studied. It has been demonstrated that the processes of capture of hydride molecule radicals by the epitaxial surface and their subsequent decomposition must be taken into account in the analysis of growth kinetics. The comparison of experimental data with the results of kinetic analysis has revealed a close match between them. At low germane pressures

Comparative Analysis of Light Emitting Properties of Si: Er and Ge/Si1-xGex Epitaxial Structures Obtained by MBE Method

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