Ion energy, ion flux, and ion mass effects on low-temperature silicon epitaxy using low-energy ion bombardment process

In low-temperature (300–350 °C) silicon epitaxy employing low-energy inert-gas ion bombardment on a growing film surface, the effects of ion bombardment energy and ion flux as well as that of ion species on the crystallinity of a grown silicon film have been experimentally investigated. It is shown that the energy dose determined by the product of ion energy and ion flux is a main factor for epitaxy that compensates for the reduction in the substrate temperature. Large-mass, large-radius ion bombardment using Xe has been demonstrated to be more effective in promoting epitaxy at low substrate temperatures than Ar ion bombardment. Thus, low-energy, high-flux, large-mass ion bombardment is the direction to pursue for further reducing the processing temperature while preserving high crystallinity of grown films.