HIGH SENSITIVITY CRYSTALLINE SILICON EPITAXY BY PLASMA ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPRO DEPOSITION

HIGH RESISTIVITY CRYSTALLINE SILICON DIODE DETECTORS HAVE MANY ADVANTAGES FOR USE IN CALORIMETERS AT THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER (SSC). HOWEVER, THE COST OF HIGH RESISTIVITY SILICON (SI) IS A MAJOR DRAWBACK TO USING SI DETECTORS. NOVEL, LOW COST METHODS OF PRODUCING HIGH RESISTIVITY SI DETECTORS WOULD BE OF GREAT VALUE FOR THE SSC. RECENTLY, LOW TEMPERATURE (250 DEGREES CENTIGRADE) EPITAXIAL GROWTH OF CRYSTALLINE SI USING PLASMA-ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (PECVD) HAS BEEN REPORTED. THE TECHNIQUES RELIES ON THE ETCHING ACTION OF ATOMIC HYDROGEN TO SELECTIVELY BREAK STRAINED SI-SI BONDS THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF AMORPHOUS MATERIAL. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, EPITAXIAL SI FILMS ARE BEING GROWN USING PECVD WITH HYDROGEN/SILANE GAS MIXTURES AT A RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) OF 100 MHZ, WHICH IS MORE EFFICIENT AT GENERATING ATOMIC HYDROGEN THAN THE INDUSTRY STANDARD FREQUENCY OF 13.56 MHZ. THE EFFECTS OF VARYING HYDROGEN DILUTION RATIO, SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE, AND RF POWER ARE BEING EXAMINED. SIMPLE SCHOTTKY DIODES ARE BEING MADE TO TEST THE ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES OF THE DEPOSITED FILMS.