EPITAXIAL SEMICONDUCTOR ON INSULATOR (SOI) STRUCTURES AND DEVICES

摘要

High quality epitaxial layers of monocrystalline materials (26) can be grown overlying monocrystalline substrates (22) such as large silicon wafers by forming a compliant substrate for growing the monocrystalline layers. An accommodating buffer layer (24) comprises a layer of monocrystalline oxide spaced apart from the silicon wafer (22) by an amorphous interface layer (28) of silicon oxide. The amorphous interface layer dissipates strain and permits the growth of a high quality monocrystalline oxide accommodating buffer layer. The accommodating bufferlayer is lattice matched to both the underlying silicon wafer and the overlying monocrystalline material layer. A monocrystalline layer (26) is then formed over the accommodating buffer layer, such that a lattice constant of the monocrystalline layer substantially matches the lattice constant of a subsequently grown monocrystalline film.