Low-temperature, vapor-liquid-solid, laterally grown silicon films using alloyed catalysts

Using amorphous oxide templates known as micro-crucibles which confine a vapor-liquid-solid catalyst to a specific geometry, two-dimensional silicon thin-films of a single orientation have been grown laterally over an amorphous substrate and defects within crystals have been necked out. The vapor-liquid-solid catalysts consisted nominally of 99% gold with 1% titanium, chromium, or aluminum, and each alloy affected the processing of micro-crucibles and growth within them significantly. It was found that chromium additions inhibited the catalytic effect of the gold catalysts, titanium changed the morphology of the catalyst during processing and aluminum stabilized a potential third phase in the gold-silicon system upon cooling. Two mechanisms for growing undesired nanowires were identified both of which hindered the VLS film growth, fast silane cracking rates and poor gold etching, which left gold nanoparticles near the gold-vapor interface. To reduce the silane cracking rates, growth was done at a lower temperature while an engineered heat and deposition profile helped to reduce NWs caused by the second mechanism. Through experimenting with catalyst compositions, the fundamental mechanisms which produce concentration gradients across the gold-silicon alloy within a given micro-crucible have been proposed. Using the postulated mechanisms, micro-crucibles were designed which promote high-quality, single crystal growth of semiconductors.