Optical metrology of thickness and indium composition of epitaxial InxGa1−xAs layers on Si substrates
An optical metrology solution using a Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE) tool has been demonstrated to monitor the thickness and indium composition of InxGa1-xAs layers on Si substrates for III-V compound semiconductor channel devices. Fundamentally, the SE tool is based on light interference and phase shift effects corresponding to individual material properties. A wide range of wavelengths (190 ~ 840nm) of the SE spectra is used to collect elliptically polarized light and for dispersion model characterization to float n and k values at each wavelength. The SE data for InxGa1-xAs and indium composition is quantified using TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) and RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) showing excellent correlation. In the range of 190nm to 840nm wavelengths SE is able to provide InxGa1-xAs layer thickness through post data processing using InxGa1-xAs/GaAs layer thickness with surface roughness consideration. Reducing the surface roughness is expected to enable more accurate and higher intensity of elliptically polarized light from films so that the best film model can be applied to float n and k values. Indium composition of the InxGa1-xAs layer is quantified by dispersion (n and k) values extracted from a specific wavelength. In this work, the n value of InxGa1-xAs/GaAs film stack at 219nm shows excellent proportional relationship with RBS data on three different indium compositions, while k value at 248nm shows excellent inverse relationship. This is a promising solution to evaluate critical growth parameters such as indium composition and to offer detailed and immediate feedback on the deposition process. This solution can be extended to other compound materials - characterizing thickness and composition by correlating n and k values for each wavelength.
Suppression of In surface segregation and growth of modulation‐doped N‐AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs structures with a high In composition by molecular‐beam epitaxy
A model is proposed for describing the origin of the growth mode transition from two to three dimensions during the molecular‐beam epitaxial growth of InGaAs on GaAs [H. Toyoshima, T. Niwa, J. Yamazaki, and A. Okamoto, Appl. Phys. Lett. 63, 821 (1993)]. In this model the amount of In atoms on the surface arising from surface segregation is crucial in determining the growth mode transition, which provides the upper limit of the In composition and/or the thickness of InGaAs for device applications. The increase of these limited values for a modulation‐doped structure with an InGaAs channel has been implemented on the basis of this model. A lower substrate temperature and a higher As4 pressure during the InGaAs growth greatly suppress the In segregation ratio leading to the decrease of the amount of In on the surface. These growth conditions enable the upper limit of the In composition and/or the critical thickness of the InGaAs channel to be increased, which further verifies the validity of the proposed mod...
Photoreflectance characterization of vanadium-doped GaAs layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy
Abstract We characterized the vanadium-doped (GaAs:V) layers grown on GaAs substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The conductivity of the samples is checked by the Hall effect measurements, and it is n type with electrons concentration ranging from 2×10 13 to 2×10 17  cm −3 . We used the photoreflectance technique (PR) to study the effect of vanadium doping on the optical properties of GaAs. Our experimental results show that the built-in electric field F and the broadening parameter Γ 0 increase with V-doping concentration. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the built-in electric field and the broadening parameter of GaAs:V samples have been investigated by PR. It has been observed that these parameters increase with increasing temperature. The decrease of the built-in electric field with decreasing temperature is due to the photovoltage effect.We characterized the vanadium-doped GaAs (GaAs:V) layers grown on GaAs substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy.