Improved production yield in silicon epitaxy by reducing pressure in mesoplasma chemical vapor deposition

Epitaxial deposition rate and production yield of Si epitaxy have been improved by reducing the pressure during mesoplasma chemical vapor deposition to attain a rate of 490 nm/s and a yield of 60% at 3 Torr while maintaining a Hall mobility as high as 210 cm(2).V-1.s(-1). Decreasing the pressure increased the local density of excited atomic H in the plasma near the deposition region. This increased density potentially increased the instability of the Si-Cl gases and also promoted the impingement dynamics of the growth-precursor clusters, which were likely the cause of the improved production yield and film quality. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics