Study of the crystalline quality of exfoliated surfaces in hydrogen-implanted silicon

Hydrogen-implanted "Smart-Cut(R)" silicon is attracting considerable interest for silicon on insulator applications in high-speed, low-power microelectronics. To optimize the fabrication process the mechanisms of bubble growth, defect formation and the origin of the residual surface roughness and damage must be studied under a variety of implantation and annealing conditions. This letter describes the analysis of the crystalline quality of the surfaces of exfoliated bubbles and delaminated layers in hydrogen-implanted silicon. Transmission and backscattering ion channeling are used to observe the separate contributions of lattice damage and internal gas pressure to the exfoliation process. Significant additional damage occurs during the exfoliation/delamination process, which is attributed to mechanically induced plastic deformation of the surface. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04228-5].