Low temperature metal-induced lateral crystallization of Si 1-xGex using silicide/germanide-forming-metals

Abstract

Metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC) of Si1-xGex (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) using Ni, Co, and Pd is carried out at 375 °C. It is found that the MILC rates increase with increasing Ge fraction when Ni and Co are used; however, the rate reaches a maximum at Ge mole fraction of 0.7 for Pd induced lateral crystallization of SiGe. The difference in these two trends is due to different contributions of the three processes involved during the metalinduced crystallization. Using Ni and Co, the MILC rates of Si1-xGe x are limited by the silicon germanide formation and diffusion process for all Ge mole fractions. While the MILC rate of Si 1-xGex using Pd is also controlled by these two processes when x is smaller than 0.7, the rate is dominantly limited by the lattice mismatch between silicon germanide and SiGe when the Ge mole fraction is larger than 0.7. Comparing the quality of MIC Ge films induced by the three metals, crystalline Ge film induced by Co has the largest grain size and the smoothest surface. Regarding the MILC rate, Pd has a similar rate as Ni in MILC of Ge, and a much higher rate than those of Ni and Co in MILC of Si0:3Ge 0:7. © 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.