Formation of III-V-on-insulator structures on Si by direct wafer bonding

Abstract

We have studied the formation of III-V-compound-semiconductors-on-insulator (III-V-OI) structures with thin buried oxide (BOX) layers on Si wafers by using developed direct wafer bonding (DWB). In order to realize III-V-OI MOSFETs with ultrathin body and extremely thin body (ETB) InGaAs-OI channel layers and ultrathin BOX layers, we have developed an electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) O-2 plasma-assisted DWB process with ECR sputtered SiO2 BOX layers and a DWB process based on atomic-layer-deposition Al2O3 (ALD-Al2O3) BOX layers. It is essential to suppress micro-void generation during wafer bonding process to achieve excellent wafer bonding. We have found that major causes of micro-void generation in DWB processes with ECR-SiO2 and ALD-Al2O3 BOX layers are desorption of Ar and H2O gas, respectively. In order to suppress micro-void generation in the ECR-SiO2 BOX layers, it is effective to introduce the outgas process before bonding wafers. On the other hand, it is a possible solution for suppressing micro-void generation in the ALD-Al2O3 BOX layers to increase the deposition temperature of the ALD-Al2O3 BOX layers. It is also another possible solution to deposit ALD-Al2O3 BOX layers on thermally oxidized SiO2 layers, which can absorb the desorption gas from ALD-Al2O3 BOX layers.