Effect of n - and p-type dopants on patterned amorphous regrowth

Solid-phase epitaxial regrowth for patterned amorphous regions has been known to form device degrading mask-edge defects. Prior studies have shown that orientation dependence of regrowth leads to pinching of the slow regrowing corners (111 fronts) that create these defects [K. L. Saenger, J. Appl. Phys. 101, 104908 (2007)]. Also, the effect of n -type and p -type dopants on regrowth is known only for 001 bulk [B. C. Johnson and J. C. McCallum, Phys. Res. B 76, 045216 (2007); J. S. Williams and R. G. Elliman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 1069 (1983)]. This article studies the effect of these dopants (boron and arsenic) on the patterned amorphous regrowth to see if there is any change in the corner regrowth. The experiment was done on very low resistivity wafers (∼0.003 ω cm) so that the doping concentration was constant in the whole amorphous region and the doping was high enough to have a significant effect on the regrowth. Recent studies have also shown that local α-^c interface curvature is an important factor in modeling patterned amorphous regrowth for intrinsic Si [S. Morarka, J. Appl. Phys. 105, 053701 (2009)]. This experiment shows the dopant-curvature relationship that is important from modeling perspective.