Effect of in situ boron doping on properties of silicon germanium films deposited by chemical vapor deposition at 400 °C
This paper reports on the role of boron in situ doping on enhancing crystallization of silicon germanium deposited at 400 °C and 2 torr. The dependence of growth rate on germanium content and boron concentration is investigated. The minimum boron concentration and the minimum germanium content required for crystallizing the as-grown layers is experimentally determined. The texture and grain microstructure of doped and undoped poly SiGe layers has been investigated by means of x-ray diffraction spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The low deposition temperature coupled with the low tensile stress of the polycrystalline material enable postprocessing of surface micromachined microelectromechanical systems on top of standard complementry metal oxide semiconductor wafers with Al interconnects. Furthermore, the resistivity of the as-grown layers is as low as 1 mΩ cm, and hence, it can be used as a seeding layer for polycrystalline Si solar cells compatible with glass substrates.