Engineering wafer scale single-crystalline Si growth on epitaxial Gd2O3/Si(111) substrate using radio frequency sputtering for silicon on insulator application

Abstract

Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology has been the promising solution for the On-chip low-power mixed-signal systems. However, the traditional smart-cut method for SOI wafer fabrication is costly. Hence, in this work, we present an optimized methodology to fabricate a wafer scale single-crystalline Si on epitaxial Gd₂O₃/Si(111) substrate (SOXI) using a low-cost, high volume manufacturable (HVM)-friendly Radio Frequency magnetron sputtering technique for SOI application. The grown Si and Gd₂O₃ layers are physically characterized using high-resolution X-ray Diffraction and high-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). The Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction, Pole Figure, and HRTEM imaging confirm the formation of an epitaxial Top-Si layer on the epitaxial-Gd₂O₃/Si(111) substrate. Hence, we demonstrate a low-cost, HVM-friendly technique for the fabrication of SOXI wafers.