Formation of silicon‐based heterostructures in multichamber integrated‐processing thin‐film deposition systems

This paper describes the formation of heterostructure devices using multichamber integrated‐processing thin‐film deposition systems: clustered processing‐tools with UHV‐compatible inter‐chamber transfer. The application of remote plasma‐enhanced chemical‐vapor deposition (remote PECVD) for the formation of semiconducting and dielectric thin films in several device structures is discussed. Special attention is directed to (i) the deposition conditions required for control of layer and interface chemistry, and (ii) post‐deposition‐annealing (PDA) for the modification of physical and electronic properties of the individual layers and their interfaces. Due to limitations on in situ patterning, each of the device structures is completed after removal from the cluster. A criterion is proposed for the evaluation of multichamber processing systems that is based on the ability to form multilayer structures with two or more electronically significant interfaces without the removal of the heterostructure from the cluster processing ambient.