Epitaxy

Dr. Rohan Gupta

A.P,ECE
• Method of depositing monocrystalline film on
a monocrystalline substrate
• Deposited as epitaxial film or epitaxial layer
• Epi means above and taxis meaning in ordered
manner
• Different from thin film deposition methods
 Types
• Homoepitaxy
• Heteroepitaxy
• Heterotopotaxy
 Homoepitaxy
• Performed with one material
• Crystalline film is grown on a substrate or film
of same material
• Used to grow a film which is more pure
• Fabricate layers having different doping levels
 Heteroepitaxy
• Performed with materials that are different
from each other
• Crystalline film is grown on a crystalline
substrate or film of different material
• Single crystals cannot be obtained
• Fabricate crystalline layers of different
materials
 Heterotopotaxy
• Similar to heteroepitaxy
• Thin film growth not limited to two
dimensional growth
• Substrate is similar only in structure
 Applications
• Nanotechnology
• Semiconductor fabrication
• Pacemakers
• Automobile computers
• BJTs and CMOS
 Manufacturing issues
• Cleanliness
• Purity of surface
• Imperfection of growth process
• Protecting the surface during manufacturing
 Molecular Beam Epitaxy
• Thin layer is grown on a substrate
• Precise crystal orientation of film
• Substrate placed in ultra high vaccum
• Source material for the film are evaporated from
sources
• Evaporated molecules as a beam striking the
substrate
• Quality of film will be better with slower growth
 Advantages over CVD
• Low temperature process
• Precise control of doping
• Linear doping profile is easily obtained
• MBE under ultra high vaccum conditions
• Mean free path of atoms
• L=5x10-3/P
• L is mean free path in cm and P is pressure in
Torr
• Evaporation of silicon and one or more
dopants
Schematic of MBE Growth system
• Transport velocity controlled by thermal
energy
• Evaporation from crucible produces flux of
material varying with time and angle
• 400 to 800 degree centigrade
• Autodoping and reduced outdiffusion are lost
• 0.01 to 0.3 micrometer can be achieved
MBE Growth Chamber
• Substrate is washed and put into loading
chamber
• Cleaned using argon ion
• Undesired oxide is removed
• Annealing heals the damage
• Substrate enters via sample exchange load
lock
• RHEED and Ellipsometry used during growth
• To study and control growth process
• Pre-or post growth analysis technique
 Limitations
• Not suitable for GaAs
• Gas source is complicated
• Complex pumping system
• Precise control of flux is difficult