Tendency of crystal orientation rotation toward stable {001} <100> during lateral crystal growth of Si thin film sandwiched by SiO2

Abstract

Abstract Stable crystal orientation (CO) for lateral growth of Si thin film sandwiched by SiO2 was evidenced to be only {001} in normal direction (ND {001}) and 〈100〉 ±5° in scanning direction (SD 〈100〉). Crystal with ND{001} is quasi-stable when angle θ between inplane 〈110〉 and SD is among 15° ≤ θ < 40° and is unstable when θ is θ < 15°. CO other than the stable CO will rotate spontaneously toward the stable CO, i.e. ND{001} with SD〈100〉 ±5°. Most ND{001} crystal was ended by twinning before the CO come to the stable CO. The twinning was triggered by gas ejection or particles, so suppressing of these phenomena would be the key for increasing ND{001}SD〈100〉 crystal occupations. These results have been verified for crystal growth velocity among 0.04–45 mm s−1.