Ni-imprint induced solid-phase crystallization in Si1−xGex (x: 0–1) on insulator

Abstract

Position control of solid-phase crystallization in the amorphous Si1−xGex (x: 0–1) films on insulating substrates was investigated by using Ni-imprint technique. Crystal nucleation at the imprinted positions proceeded approximately 2–20 times, depending on Ge fraction, faster than the conventional solid-phase crystallization, which was due to the catalytic effect of Ni. As a result, large SiGe crystal regions (∼2μm) were obtained at controlled positions. On the other hand, the growth velocity did not changed, which suggested that grown regions contained few residual Ni atoms.

Room temperature photoluminescence of Ge-on-insulator structures formed by rapid melt growth

“…1,2 Ge-on-insulator (GOI) structures must be developed because such systems can facilitate the advancement of MOS field-effect transistors and nearinfrared photodetectors. [3][4][5] Many techniques such as layer transfer, 6 oxidation-induced Ge condensation, 7 metal-induced lateral crystallization, 8 and imprint-induced solid-phase crystallization, 9 have been developed over the past decades. However, these methods have high complexity or have difficulties in achieving high-quality Ge crystals.…”

Indentation-induced low-temperature solid-phase crystallization of Si1−xGex (x=–1) on insulator

“…We have applied this technique to SPC of SiGe, whose carrier mobility is higher than that of Si, and realized Si 1−x Ge x ͑x =0-1͒ crystals ͑diameter: ϳ2 m͒ around Ni-imprinted points. 8 However, if this technique is applied to ULSI circuits with a high device integrity, the Ni atoms remaining at the imprint points can be a problem. Consequently, development of a low-temperature growth technique of SiGe, which is free from metal catalyst, is strongly required.…”

Nucleation of Si and Ge by rapid cooling using molecular-dynamics simulation

“…Since the channel mobility and threshold voltage in TFTs depend on the crystallographic orientation, various crystallization processes of Ge have been widely investigated to fabricate similarly oriented Ge grains on the transparent insulating substrate, such as laser annealing [1] and, solid-phase crystallization (SPC) [2]. However, no high-quality poly-Ge thin films have been achieved on insulating substrate.…”