Relaxed silicon-germanium on insulator (SGOI)

We have fabricated high quality SGOI substrates and demonstrated high mobility enhancement in strained-Si MOSFET's fabricated on the relaxed SGOI substrates with a Ge content of 25%. The substrates were fabricated by wafer bonding. The initial relaxed Si_1-xGe_x layers were grown on Si donor substrates by a graded epitaxial growth technology using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD). The SiGe wafers were then bonded to oxidized silicon handle wafers. Two different approaches have been developed to fabricate SGOI substrates: an etch-back process utilizing a 20% Ge layer as a natural etch stop, and a hydrogen-induced wafer delamination process using H⁺ implantion. The resultant SiGe film quality was compared among the different approaches. Large-area strained-Si MOSFET's were then fabricated on the SGOI substrates. Epitaxial regrowth was used to produce the upper portion of the relaxed SiGe and the surface strained Si layer. The measured electron mobility shows significant enhancement over both the universal mobility and that of co-processed bulk-Si MOSFET's. This SGOI process has a low thermal budget and thus is compatible with a wide range of Ge contents in Si_1-xGe_x layer.