Fluorine passivation of vacancy defects in bulk germanium for Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor application

Vacancy defects in germanium (Ge) adversely impact the electrical performance of Ge based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) in several ways. They behave as an acceptor site, thereby deactivating n-type dopants in the source/drain region. They can also increase substrate leakage currents and impact carrier lifetime in the channel region. In this paper, we characterize and verify the electrical behavior of vacancy defects in Ge using spreading resistance profiling (SRP). Effect of thermal annealing on the vacancy concentration is studied. Finally, passivation of these defects using fluorine (F) ion-implant is shown to demonstrate the feasibility of performance enhancement in Ge-MOSFETs.