I am trying to simulate the deposition of Silicon over SiO2. In reality, when we try to deposit a crystalline Silicon over SiO2 (amorphous), we get rather a polycrystalline Silicon. In ATHENA though, when simulating the same process, the final deposited Silicon layer is not Polycrystalline Silicon but Crystalline silicon.
So, If someone can help me know how to capture this effect in Silicon and how to measure the quality of the deposited film in the Silvaco ATHENA TCAD tool, it would be really helpful.
If the proper simulation is not possible in ATHENA, please let me know which tool can capture these effects properly.
Dear Chandan,
The process od depositing silicon on SiO2 is modeled and can be simulated according to the data given by the manual.
It is strange that the resulting silicon will be single crystal and not a polycrystalline. It may be that the grain size is large and the area observed is smaller than the size of one grain.
My question from where did you know that the deposited silicon is crystalline?
What are deposition parameters?
Best wishes
Dear Chandan,
The process od depositing silicon on SiO2 is modeled and can be simulated according to the data given by the manual.
It is strange that the resulting silicon will be single crystal and not a polycrystalline. It may be that the grain size is large and the area observed is smaller than the size of one grain.
My question from where did you know that the deposited silicon is crystalline?
What are deposition parameters?
Best wishes
Abdelhalim Zekry , thank you for your response.
When I am doing conformal deposition using DEPO statement or even Deposition simulation using Machine Deposition using Elite module,
the deposited layer of Silicon is crystalline indeed.
It may be that I am assuming it to be a crystalline structure. If that is the case then what parameter should I look for in my structure to assess the crystalline or polycrystalline nature of the deposited silicon over the SiO2?
I did try to take a cutline and find out the Interstitial & Vacancy density in the deposited material and it wasn't too high. From there I concluded that the deposited Silicon is crystalline.
I think your test can not bring a decisive judgement about the crystallinity of the structure. It is the dislocation distribution in the deposited material that can give the grain nature of the deposit. It is so that at the grain boundary you will find a high density of dislocations. In the grain bulk you will have less dislocations.
Also the distribution of the crystallographic orientation in the layer.
You can also judge the crystallographic structure by measuring the resistivity of the material. It is so that the resistivity of the polycrystalline si is much greater than the single crystal.
Best wishes
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