Nano cluster assisted high rate epitaxy of silicon by mesoplasma CVD

Homoepitaxial silicon thick films have been deposited by medium pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition at rates as fast as 60 nm/s at temperatures around 700 °C. X-ray scattering measurement was attempted in situ simultaneously during deposition to capture the possible cluster formation in the plasma/substrate boundary. The scattering intensity was found to increase upon injection of SiH4 gas to Ar plasma. Such an increase in the intensity was pronounced when the epitaxial films were achieved. These potentially suggest that nano sized Si clusters were formed in the boundary region and contributed effectively to the high rate epitaxial growth.