Applications of Si1−xGex alloys for Ge devices and monolithic 3D integration

As the semiconductor industry moves beyond the 10 nm node, power consumption constraints and reduction of the negative impact of parasitic elements become important. Silicon germanium (Si1−xGex) alloys have been used to amplify the performance of Si based devices and integrated circuits (ICs) for decades. Selective epitaxial growth of heavily doped Si and/or Si1−xGex is commonly employed to reduce the effect of parasitic resistance. Reducing the supply voltage leads to lower dynamic power consumption in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Monolithic three-dimensional integration (M3D) is a technology that employs vertical stacking of the device tiers. This approach reduces the wiring length, effectively reducing interconnect delay, load capacitance and ultimately reducing the power consumption. Among the integration challenges M3D is facing, one can distinguish the available thermal budget for fabrication, the crystalline quality of the device active layer and finally the actual device or circuit performance. Germanium channel devices can benefit M3D integration. Germanium metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) can be fabricated at significantly lower temperatures than Si. In addition, they potentially can have higher performance compared to Si due to the superior electron and hole mobilities of Ge. Active layer transfer of crystalline quality layers is a key step in a M3D fabrication flow. Direct wafer bonding techniques offer the possibility to transfer a Ge layer on a patterned wafer. This thesis studies the various applications of Si1−xGex films in M3D. An initial implementation of an in situ doped Si1−xGex film on silicon-oninsulator and germanium substrates is first presented. A Si1−xGex film is grown selectively on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates to be used as a contact electrode on Si nanowire biosensors. On Ge bulk substrates, in situ doped Si1−xGex is epitaxially grown to form p+/n junctions. The junction leakage current and the mechanisms at play are studied. The analysis of the junction performance provides insights on the junction leakage mechanisms, an important issue for the implementation of in situ doped Si1−xGex in M3D. A low temperature germanium-on-insulator (GOI) fabrication flow based on room temperature wafer bonding and etch back is presented in this work. The method suggested in the thesis produces high quality, crystalline Ge device layers with excellent uniformity. The thesis also reports on the development and integration of Si1−xGex in the GOI fabrication as an etch stop layer, enabling the stability of the layer transfer process. Finally this thesis presents Ge p-channel field-effect transistor (PFET) devices fabricated on the previously developed GOI substrates. The technologies presented in this thesis can be integrated in large scale Ge device fabrication flow. The low temperature GOI and Ge PFET fabrication methods are very well suited for sequential device fabrication. The processes and applications presented in this thesis meet the current thermal budget, device performance and active layer transfer demands for M3D technology.