In this chapter, the technology of growth of group-IV alloy films and their characterization is discussed. The deposition of heteroepitaxial films in greater depth using various reactors is also examined. Focus is placed on systems that have successfully demonstrated devices. Atmospheric pressure systems are also covered since they have a very great potential of widespread commercial use. As the reactor configurations differ substantially, the advantages and disadvantages of each system are compared. Wafer cleaning methods, reaction kinetics such as constituent incorporation control, dopant control, and selective deposition are examined. Characterization of strained epitaxial films using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy analysis (RBS), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), high resolution x-ray diffractometry (HXRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) is discussed.

Inspec keywords: semiconductor growth; X-ray diffraction; semiconductor epitaxial layers; Rutherford backscattering; X-ray photoelectron spectra; Ge-Si alloys; molecular beam epitaxial growth; atomic force microscopy

Other keywords: atomic force microscopy; high resolution x-ray diffractometry; heteroepitaxial films; strained epitaxial films; Si-Ge; strained layer epitaxy; Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy; atmospheric pressure systems; x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; spectroscopic ellipsometry; group-IV alloy films

Subjects: Vacuum deposition