CARBON-MEDIATED EFFECTS IN SILICON AND IN SILICON-RELATED MATERIALS

The present review deals with effects caused by the presence of carbon in single-crystal silicon, as well as in some silicon-related materia ls. Three main areas are covered, with particular emphasis on the seco nd one: (i) carbon as an impurity in silicon; (ii) carbon implanted in silicon at concentrations exceeding the solid solubility limit, but l ower than the stoichiometric ratio for silicon carbide; and (iii) synt hesis of silicon carbide layers by high-dose carbon implantation into silicon. It is shown that carbon implantation has a number of potentia l applications, such as reduction of secondary-defect density, getteri ng, etch stops for the formation of silicon-on-insulator structures, m odification of the band gap and strain in heterostructures, and suppre ssion of transient dopant diffusion. The fundamental material properti es and their dependence on the process conditions are described and di scussed in detail.