Low-Temperature Growth of Si:Er by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Pecvd Using Metal Organics

Epitaxial growth of Er-doped silicon films has been performed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low temperature (430°C) using an electron cyclotron resonance source. The goal was to incorporate an optically active center, erbium surrounded by nitrogen, through the use of the metal organic compound tris (bis trimethyl silyl amido) erbium. Films were analyzed by Rutherford backscatter spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectroscopy and high resolution x-ray diffraction. The characteristic 1.54 μm emission was observed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. Previous attempts to incorporate the complex (ErO6) using tris (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) erbium (III) indicated that excessive interstitial carbon lowered epitaxial quality and reduced photoluminescent intensity. In this study, much of the carbon was introduced onto substitutional sites maintaining good epitaxial growth. A response surface method was employed to find the plasma growth parameters yielding the highest quality luminescent films. Luminescent intensity increased for anneals up to 600°C but decreased at higher temperatures.