Recombination Lifetime Profiling in Very Thin Si Epitaxial Layers Used for Bipolar VLSI

A recently proposed measurement technique [1] to evaluate the recombination lifetime along epitaxial layers is used to characterize the quality of very thin Si epitaxial layers used for bipolar technology. The experimental results show the capability of the technique to give accurate and detailed information on the quality of epilayers that could be useful in monitoring and improving the growth process. The experimental results show that the lifetime values in thin epilayers are not correlated with doping profiles in the same layers; moreover they are only slightly dependent on different processes used to make the test devices. © 1989 IEEE