Defects Induced by Reactive Ion Etching in Ge Substrate

Abstract

We investigated impacts of the Ar and CF4　plasma during reactive ion etching (RIE) on defect formation in the Ge substrates using the deep-level-transient-spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. It was found that the Ar plasma causes the roughening of the Ge surface. Moreover, the Ar plasma induces a defect with an energy level of 0.31 eV from the conduction band minimum in the Ge substrate, confirming by DLTS spectra. On the other hand, the CF4plasma hardly induces the surface roughness of Ge. However, the CF4plasma induces many kinds of electron and hole traps. It should be noted that the defects associated with Sb and interstitials are widely distributed to around 3-µm.