Heteroepitaxial Si films on yttria-stabilized, cubic zirconia substrates

Abstract

Epitaxial single-crystal growth of Si films has been achieved on the (100), (110), and (111) planes of yttria-stabilized, cubic zirconia single crystals. The Si films were grown by the pyrolysis of SiH4 at temperatures in the range 950–1075 °C and at deposition rates of 0.08–1.2 μm/min. The structural and electrical properties of the Si films have been determined by Rutherford backscattering and channeling, x-ray diffraction, and Hall effect measurements. Several 0.4–0.5-μm-thick (100) and (110) Si films on cubic zirconia were found to be of higher crystal quality than commercial (100) Si-on-sapphire films of similar thickness.