Silicon layer transfer using plasma hydrogenation Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In this work, we demonstrate a novel approach for the transfer of Si layers onto handle wafers, induced by plasma hydrogenation. In the conventional ion-cut process, hydrogen ion implantation is used to initiate layer delamination at a desired depth, which leads to ion damage in the transferred layer. In this study, we investigated the use of plasma hydrogenation to achieve high-quality layer transfer. To place hydrogen atoms introduced during plasma hydrogenation at a specific depth, a uniform trapping layer for H atoms must be prepared in the substrate before hydrogenation. The hydrogenated Si wafer was then bonded to another Si wafer coated with a thermal oxide, followed by thermal annealing to induce Si layer transfer. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy showed that the transferred Si layer was relatively free of lattice damage. The H trapping during plasma hydrogenation, and the subsequent layer delamination mechanism, are discussed. These results show direct evidence of the feasibility of using plasma hydrogenation to transfer relatively defect-free Si layers.

published proceedings

  • Applied Physics Letters

author list (cited authors)

  • Chen, P., Lau, S. S., Chu, P. K., Henttinen, K., Suni, T., Suni, I., ... Nastasi, M.

citation count

  • 11

complete list of authors

  • Chen, Peng||Lau, SS||Chu, Paul K||Henttinen, K||Suni, T||Suni, I||Theodore, N David||Alford, TL||Mayer, JW||Shao, Lin||Nastasi, M

publication date

  • September 2005