14/02/2023

Epitaxy
• Epitaxy means the growth of a single crystal film on top of a crystalline substrate.
For most thin film applications (hard and soft coatings, optical coatings, protective
coatings) it is of little importance. However, for semiconductor thin film
technology it is crucial.
• Epitaxy is a greek word composed of two parts, namely epi and on and taxy which
means on and ordered arrangement respectively.
• Thus epitaxy refers to ordered arrangement on some materials; oriented growth of
pilayers on a single crystalline substrate, so that the two atomic planes in contact
have planar unit cells that match each other.
• Epitaxy is a term applied to the process of growing a monocrystalline film on a
substrate. Epitaxy is termed as homoepitaxy when a crystal is grown epitaxially on
a substrate of the same material, as in silicon film grown on silicon substrate.
• It is termed as heteroepitaxy when a crystal is grown on a foreign substrate, as in a
silicon film grown on sapphire or gallium arsenide grown on a silicon substrate.
• Epitaxial growth techniques have largely superseded the bulk growth for
electronic circuit fabrication because the devices to be fabricated needs
only few micron dimensions.
• The use of epitaxial growth, therefore reduces the growth time, wafering
cost and eliminates the wastages caused during growth, cutting, polishing
etc.
• The major advantage of the epitaxy is the uniformity in the composition,
controlled growth parameters and better understanding of the growth itself.

Different Epitaxial techniques Several epitaxial techniques have been used for the growth of epilayers
of III-V, II-VI compound semiconductors and other materials. The , prominent among these techniques
are Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE), Vapour Phase Epitaxy (VPE), Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE),
Chemical Beam Epitaxy (CBE) and Atomic Layer Epitaxy (ALE) etc
Advantages
• Better structural & Electrical properties
• Growth is carried out at low temperature- decrease in concentration of both
chemical and crystalline defects. Also, the Melt is subjected to less
chemical contamination from surrounding
• The ability to control material thickness and carrier concentration
• Possibility to grow p-n junction & other multilayer structures
• Superior electrical properties due to the lower defect density
Characteristics of Molecular Beam Epitaxy

• Low growth rate of ~ 1 monolayer (lattice plane) per sec

• Low growth temperature (~ 550°C for GaAs)
• Smooth growth surface with steps of atomic height and large
flat terraces
• Precise control of surface composition and morphology
• Abrupt variation of chemical composition at interfaces
• In-situ control of crystal growth at the atomic level
• MBE is a sophisticated, finely controlled method for
growing single-crystal epitaxial films in a high vacuum.
• The films are formed on single-crystal substrates by
slowly evaporating the elemental or molecular
constituents of the film from separate Knudsen effusion
source cells (deep crucibles in furnaces with cooled
shrouds) onto substrates held at a temperature
appropriate for chemical reaction, epitaxy, and re-
evaporation of excess reactants.
• The furnaces produce atomic or molecular beams of
relatively small diameter, which are directed at the
heated substrate, usually silicon or gallium arsenide.
• Fast shutters are interposed between the sources and the
substrates. By controlling these shutters, one can grow
super lattices with precisely controlled uniformity,
lattice match, composition, dopant concentrations,
thickness, and interfaces down to the level of atomic
layers.
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
• This conceptually simple single-crystal film-growth technique represents the state of the
art attainable in deposition processes from the vapor phase.
• Molecular beam epitaxy essentially involves highly controlled evaporation in an
ultrahigh vacuum (~10-10 torr) system.
• The reaction of one or more evaporated beams of atoms or molecules with the single-
crystal substrate yields the desired epitaxial film.
• High-quality film-growth only ensues if the surface-diffusion-incorporation time (𝜏𝑑𝑖 ) is
less than for the deposition of a monolayer. If these two times are reversed,
unincorporated atoms will be physically buried by the incoming monolayer and give rise
to defective layers.
• Since 𝜏𝑑𝑖 is thermally activated, a low growth temperature limit is implied for good
epitaxy.
• For example, at typical MBE growth rates in the range of 1µm/h (~0.3nm/), excellent
quality AlGaAs can be grown at temperatures as low as 680°C, GaAs as low as 475°C,
and InAs as low as 350°C.
15/02/2023
In many applications GaAs/AlGaAs multilayers are required. For this purpose the Ga and As
beams are on continuously while the Al source is operated intermittently. Actual growth rates
are determined by the measured layer thickness divided by the deposition time. The fraction
x can be determined from the relation. where the respective growth rates (G ) must be known.
Lattice Parameter
To ensure defect-free interfaces in
semiconductor film/substrate hetero-
structures, it is essential that the lattice
parameters (a0) of both be closely matched.
For optical devices, lattice mismatches of
less than 0.1% are sought. As an example
consider GaAs and AlAs with respective a
values of 5.6532 and 5.6611 Å. The lattice
mismatch between these compounds is Δa0
/a0 or 0.16%. No hint of structural defects
at the interface between epitaxial films of
these compounds is observed in the lattice
Electron microscope lattice image of GaAs/AlAs
image of……………………………….. heterojunction taken with [100] illumination.

To prevent excessive thermal stress from developing at the film—substrate interface during deposition and processing, a
match of thermal expansion coefficients is desirable. This condition is largely met in III—V devices based on GaAs, InP,
and combinations of these materials.
Energy gaps and corresponding lattice constants for
(a) various III—V compound semiconductors with Eg
≤ eV, (b) various II—VI and III—V compound
semiconductors with Eg ≥ eV. Only data for the
hexagonal α AlN, GaN, and InN phases are plotted.
Structure of the first InGaN multiquantum-well laser diode
ADVANTAGES
• The most important aspect of MBE is the deposition rate (typically less than 3,000 nm
per hour) that allows the films to grow epitaxial. These deposition rates require
proportionally better vacuum to achieve the same impurity levels as other deposition
techniques.
• A particular advantage is that it permits growth of crystalline layers at temperatures
where solid-state diffusion is negligible. Since chemical decomposition is not required
for growth, deposition species need require only enough energy to migrate along the
substrate surface to crystalline bonding site.
• The impurity dopant incorporation during molecular beam epitaxial growth is possible
by having an additional source of the dopant.
• MBE has rapidly established itself as a versatile technique for growing elemental and
compound semiconductor films. Thus using MBE, it is possible to produce
multilayered structures including superlattices with layer thickness as low as 10Å for
DH lasers and wave-guide applications.
Limitations
• The ultra high vacuum apparatus is very expensive.
• Frequent shutdowns are required to replenish the source materials and
opening the UHV apparatus.
• A major problem is the difficulty in growing phosphorus- containing
materials. Phosphorous is found to be bounce around the system ultimately
collected in vacuum pumps.
*A variety of in situ analysis capabilities that gives valuable information of the growth process
RHEED uses an electron gun to send high-energy electrons at a grazing
incidence to the substrate. After undergoing diffraction, the electrons interfere
constructively at specific angles according to the crystal structure and spacing
of the atoms at the sample surface and the wavelength of the incident electrons.
Electron Beam Evaporation

• In electron beam evaporation (EBE) a stream of electrons is accelerated through fields of

typically 5–10kV and focused onto the surface of the material for evaporation. The
electrons lose their energy very rapidly upon striking the surface and the material melts at
the surface and evaporates.
• That is, the surface is directly heated by impinging electrons, in contrast to conventional
heating modes. Direct heating allows the evaporation of materials from water-cooled
crucibles. Such water-cooled crucibles are necessary for evaporating reactive and in
particular reactive refractory materials to avoid almost completely the reactions with
crucible walls. This allows the preparation of high purity films because crucible materials
or their reaction products are practically excluded from evaporation.
• Electron beam guns can be classified into thermionic and plasma electron categories. In
the former type the electrons are generated thermionically from heated refractory metal
filaments, rods or disks. In the latter type, the electron beams are extracted from plasma
confined in a small space.
• A magnetic field is often applied to bend the electron trajectory, allowing the electron
gun to be positioned below the evaporation line.
• As electrons can be focalized, it is possible to obtain localized heating on the material to
evaporate, with a high density of evaporation power. This allows controlling the
evaporation rate, from low to very high values, and best of all, the chance of depositing
materials with high melting point (W, Ta, C, etc.).
Advantages and disadvantages

• The deposition rate in this process can be as low as 1 nm per minute to as high as few
micrometers per minute
• The material utilization efficiency is high relative to other methods and the process offers
structural and morphological control of films
• It creates less surface damage from the impringing atom as the film is being formed.
• The film created has high purity form (due to the high vacuum area) and has less chance
for the wafer (substrate) to be heated unintentationally.
• Electron-beam evaporation allows tight control of the evaporation rate. Thus, an electron-
beam system with multiple beams and multiple sources can deposit a chemical compound
or composite material of known composition.
As for the disadvantage, it is more difficult to be controlled incapable of doing surface
cleaning, harder to improve the step coverage and could cause x-ray damages by the electron
beam evaporation.
• Gas-Phase Chemical Processes
• Methods of film formation by purely chemical processes in the gas or vapor phases include
chemical vapor deposition and thermal oxidation. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a
materials synthesis process whereby constituents of the vapor phase react chemically near or on a
substrate surface to form a solid product.
• Thin film coatings of a very large variety of materials, particularly solid-state electronics where
purity and composition requirements must be met.
• The main feature of CVD is its versatility for synthesizing both simple and complex compounds
with relative ease at generally low temperatures. Both chemical composition and physical
structure can be tailored by control of the reaction chemistry and deposition conditions.
• Chemical reaction types basic to CVD include pyrolysis (thermal decomposition), oxidation,
reduction, hydrolysis, nitride and carbide formation, synthesis reactions, disproportionation, and
chemical transport.
• A sequence of several reaction types may be involved in more complex situations to create a
particular end product. Deposition variables such as temperature, pressure, input concentrations,
gas flow rates and reactor geometry and operating principle determine the deposition rate and the
properties of the film deposit.
• CVD has become an important process technology in several industrial fields. It has long been
used for coating of substrates at reduced pressure, often at high temperatures.
Vapour Phase Epitaxy
The principles of VPE can be described in the following steps:
1. Transport of reactants to the substrate region
2. Transfer of reactants to substrate surface
3. Adsorption of reactants on substrate
4. Surface processes such as reaction and kinetics
5. Desorption of products
6. Transfer of products to main gas stream
7. Exhausting of gases away from reaction chamber
Vapor-Phase Epitaxy:
Vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are used
for growing epitaxial films of compound semiconductors in the fabrication of optoelectronic
devices. Composite layers of accurately controlled thickness and dopant profile are required
to produce structures of optimal design for device fabrication.