Fabricating a semiconductor device with strained Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x layer
US5256550A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 12, 1991 |
| Grant date | Oct 26, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 12, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S438/938
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention comprises a method of fabricating devices and circuits employing at least one heteroepitaxial layer under strain. The thickness of the heteroepitaxial layer is more than two times the calculated equilibrium critical thickness for an uncapped heteroepitaxial layer upon a crystalline substrate, based on previously known equilibrium theory for the uncapped layer. Subsequent to growth of the heteroepitaxial layer, the structure is processed at temperatures higher than the growth temperature of the heteroepitaxial layer. The strained heteroepitaxial layer (second layer) is epitaxially grown upon the surface of a first, underlaying crystalline layer, creating a heterojunction. Subsequently a third crystalline layer is deposited or grown upon the major exposed surface of the second, strained heteroepitaxial layer. The preferred manner of growth of the third crystalline layer is epitaxial growth. The composition of the third crystalline layer must be such that upon deposition or growth, the third layer substantially continuously binds to the heteroepitaxial structure of the second layer. Subsequent to growth of the at least three layer structure, the structure is proc…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.