Epitaxial Growth of Silicon from the Pyrolysis of Monosilane on Silicon Substrates

Abstract

Epitaxial films of silicon have been grown on silicon substrates by the pyrolysis of silane. Reaction kinetics have been investigated and the behavior shown to depend on the substrate temperature, being transport controlled above 1100°C and reaction controlled below this temperature. An over‐all activation energy and reaction order have been determined in this lower range. The initial mode of growth of the films has been studied by electron microscopy and electron reflection diffraction, which has shown that growth commences by a three‐dimensional nucleation process. Finally these results are compared with those obtained from films grown from in an effort to determine the nature of any mobile surface species.