High performance germanium N+/P and P+/N junction diodes formed at low Temperature (≤380 °C) using metal-induced dopant activation

We demonstrate high performance Ge N(+)/P and P(+)/N junction diodes at sub-380 degrees C. Very low resistivity (2.2x10(-4) Omega cm) and shallow (92 nm) junction with high degree of dopant activation are achieved especially in N(+)/P junction formed at 360 degrees C on Ge epitaxially grown on Si using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor process compatible-metal (Co) induced dopant activation technique. Excellent diode characteristics having similar to 2x10(4) on/off ratio and high forward current density (221 A/cm(2) for N(+)/P and 135 A/cm(2) for P(+)/N at parallel to V(F)parallel to=2 V) are obtained in N(+)/P and P(+)/N junction diodes fabricated at 380 degrees C on bulk Ge with a surface passivated layer [GeO(2)+low temperature chemical vopor deposition SiO(2) (LTO)] isolation.