Epitaxial growth of Si deposited on (100) Si

Epitaxial growth of deposited amorphous Si on chemically cleaned (100) Si has been found and layer-by-layer growth occurred at rates comparable to those in self-ion-implanted-amorphous Si. There is no evidence for appreciable oxygen penetration into the deposited layer during storage in air. The critical factors in achieving epitaxial growth are fast (∼50 Å/sec) deposition of Si onto a surface cleaned with a HF dip as a last rinse before loading into the vacuum system. Channeling and transmission electron microscopy measurements indicated that the epitaxial layers are essentially defect free. Secondary-ion mass spectroscopic analysis showed about 10¹⁴ oxygen/cm² at the amorphous/crystal interface. With either higher interfacial oxygen coverage or slow (∼2 Å/sec) deposition, epitaxial growth rates are significantly slower.