Vacuum 70 (2003) 103–107

GaAs on Si: towards a low-temperature

‘‘smart-cut’’ technology
Grzegorz Gawlik*, Jacek Jagielski, Bronis"aw Piatkowski
!
Institute of Electronic Materials Technology, ul. Wolczy !
nska 133, Warsaw 01-919, Poland

Abstract

The basis of a new technology allowing the bonding of GaAs layers on various substrates is described. The method
consists in the use of a two-step thermal profile during hydrogen implantation. In consequence, the transfer of GaAs
layer on oxidized silicon substrate can be performed at temperatures as low as 2001C. The method opens the possibility
of fabrication of high-frequency or light-emitting devices using a GaAs layer deposited on such substrates as glass,
quartz or oxide crystals used in optoelectronics.
r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: GaAs; Direct bonding; Ion implantation; Hydrogen

1. Introduction silicon or transparent oxide materials. Wafer-

The great success of SOI materials and of a
‘‘smart-cut’’ technology opens prospects for crea-
tion of new bonded semiconductor materials.
Wafer bonding is a very promising method for
production of hybrid materials for micro- and
optoelectronics. Coupling of two different materi-
als makes it possible to construct new solid state
devices with advantageous properties. The main
limitation of the technology is the difference in
thermal expansions of bonded materials. The
substantial differences in thermal expansion coef-
ficients make impossible thermal strengthening of
the bond.
Gallium arsenide is one of the most important
microelectronic materials. A new challenge is the
coupling of GaAs with a different substrate like
*Corresponding author. Fax: +48-3912-0764.
E-mail address: gawlik g@sp.itme.edu.pl (G. Gawlik).
0042-207X/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 2 - 2 0 7 X ( 0 2 ) 0 0 6 2 7 - 9
bonding technique opens new prospects for
deposition of GaAs single crystal on different
substrates. The main problem in joining of GaAs
with Si or oxide substrates is a significant
difference between thermal expansion of GaAs
and substrate materials.
One of the most promising techniques for
joining GaAs with various substrates is a smart-
cut technology developed by Bruel [1,2]. This
technology consists in hydrogen ion implantation
into the semiconductor wafer, bonding implanted
wafer with an unimplanted one followed by
exfoliation leading to the transfer of the surface
layer of hydrogen-implanted wafer. The crucial
point of this technology when used for bonding
materials having very different thermal expansion
coefficients is the exfoliation and transfer of a thin
single crystal layer from initial substrate onto the
new one at the lowest possible temperature.
During this process, difference between thermal
104 G. Gawlik et al. / Vacuum 70 (2003) 103–107

expansions of both materials can lead to the 3. Results and discussion

shearing of interface and separation of both
connected materials. The idea of low-temperature ‘‘smart-cut’’ of
The main aim of this work was to study GaAs is based on post-implantation defects
the process of low temperature exfoliation of engineering. For that purpose, it is essential to be
GaAs after hydrogen ion implantation and trans- able to control the growth of hydrogen blisters and
fer of the exfoliated GaAs layer on silicon to ensure a planar development of defects asso-
substrate. Detailed parameters of hydrogen ciated with blister formation. Formation of sur-
ion implantation process allowing the splitting face defects in the form of blisters or bubbles
of a GaAs single crystal were found. The strongly depends on GaAs temperature during
process allows one to bond thin GaAs to hydrogen ion implantation [3]. At low tempera-
oxidized silicon single crystals. The maximum tures, below about 1001C, blisters were not be
temperature during treatment does not exceed detected up to a highest hydrogen ion dose used of
2001C. 4
1017 at. H/cm2. At temperatures exceeding
1001C, surface bubbles and blisters appear at
hydrogen ion doses higher than 6
1016 at. H/cm2.
2. Experiment The effects of sample temperature on blister
formation are shown at Fig. 1.
/1 0 0S GaAs wafers with diameter doped with GaAs lattice damage caused by hydrogen ion
Te or undoped (semi insulating) were used in implantation at different temperatures measured
the experiments. The GaAs wafers were bonded to using the RBS method was presented in our
/1 0 0S oriented Si wafers of diameter with previous article [3]. As it clearly comes from RBS
resistivity of about 6–10 O cm. 100 keV hydrogen analysis, the crystal damage strongly depends on
ions (H+ 2 ) were implanted into GaAs wafers up to target temperature during hydrogen ion implanta-
doses ranging from 4
1016 to 3
1017 at. H/cm2. tion. The detailed study of the damage structure [4]
The bond between GaAs and Si wafers was made
by using an intermediate SiO2 layer. Both, GaAs
and Si wafers were covered with SiO2 layer
before ion implantation and bonding. Such
approach enables bonding between both wafers
using the well-known technique of bonding
oxidized silicon wafers in room temperature. Si
wafers were thermally oxidized. GaAs wafers were
covered with 100–130 nm thick SiO2 layer using rf
sputtering of quartz target. The wafers were
bonded at room temperature in air. Annealing of
bonded samples was carried out in a chamber
furnace in air or in vacuum at temperatures
ranging from 1001C to 5001C for 30–60 min.
Heating and cooling time was always equal to
about 30 min.
Surface morphology after hydrogen implanta-
tion and thermal treatment leading to the surface
layer exfoliation was studied by means of scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) and optical micro-
scopy. Surface roughness and thickness of trans- Fig. 1. Dose and temperature boundaries of blister formation
ferred layer was determined by the Alphastep in hydrogen-implanted GaAs. The inset shows the roughness
profilometer. parameter dependence on the implanted hydrogen dose [3].
 G. Gawlik et al. / Vacuum 70 (2003) 103–107
revealed that after RT implantation, only dis-
placed atoms and/or small amorphous clusters are
formed. The substantial increase of the damage
peak after hydrogen implantation at temperatures
above 1401C as compared to that measured for the
sample implanted with the same dose at 451C is
somewhat unusual. Typically the increase of
temperature causes an opposite effect, i.e. a
decrease of the damage peak due to greater defect
mobility. It is worth to point out that at this
temperature only defects in the Ga sublattice are
mobile, as defect mobility threshold for As
sublattice lies above 3001C [5]. Thus, important
defect transformations cannot be expected in the
studied temperature range.
The observed increase of the channeling
yield can be explained in the frames of blister
formation. In fact, hydrogen-defect complexes
of different morphology containing multiple
hydrogen atoms bounded to displaced matrix
atoms can be considered as precursors of the
hydrogen bubble and eventually blister forma-
tion. They are effective traps for mobile
hydrogen atoms and stabilize the radiation
damage produced by ion implantation. The pre-
requisite of such complex formation is high
enough hydrogen concentration. Their formation
is thermally activated: small complexes can coa-
lesce if the implantation temperature exceeds
100–1201C.
In this work, we found that in a two-step
process composed of high temperature (over
1001C) implantation up to a dose of about
6
1016 H/cm2 at energy 100 keV followed by a
low-temperature (below 1001C) step, the total
retained doses of 2
1017 at. H/cm2 can be
obtained without surface blistering or bubble
creation. The obtained structure is highly unstable
at temperatures over about 1701C. Annealing at
temperatures exceeding 1701C leads to blister
formation on the GaAs surface. Further increase
of annealing temperature causes exfoliation of
large flakes of the GaAs surface layer. At
temperatures over 3001C, almost complete re-
moval of the surface layer was observed (Fig. 2).
The thickness of the removed layer corresponds to
the depth close to the projected range of implanted
hydrogen ions, B400 nm.
105
Fig. 2. Exfoliation of GaAs surface layer after two-step (see
text) hydrogen ion implantation up to a dose 19
1016 H/cm2
and annealing at 4001C. SEM micrograph of the edge of
implanted area.
The low-temperature exfoliation allows to im-
plement a low-temperature ‘‘smart-cut’’ process.
An important step of this technology is wafer
bonding. In this work, Si and GaAs wafers
covered with SiO2 were used, because the bonding
of silicon dioxide surfaces is well known and can
be done at room temperature in air. At room
temperature, the bond formed is rather weak, but
its strength is high enough for manipulation of
bonded wafers allowing an annealing process.
Coupling of these two processes: low temperature
exfoliation and wafer bonding allowed us to define
a new, low-temperature ‘‘smart-cut’’-like technol-
ogy. The crucial part of this technology is an
important new step: the two-step hydrogen ion
implantation with target temperature profiling
during ion implantation. The presented technology
was called ‘‘pol-cut’’ to distinguish from original
‘‘smart-cut’’ designed by Bruel [1,2].
Summarizing the presented results, the ‘‘pol-
cut’’ technology can be described as a sequence of
the following steps:
1. hydrogen ion implantation of GaAs at target
temperature over 1001C;
2. hydrogen ion implantation of GaAs at target
temperature below 1001C;
3. bonding of implanted GaAs wafer with a
complementary substrate;
106 G. Gawlik et al. / Vacuum 70 (2003) 103–107
4. annealing process allowing the exfoliation and
transfer of the GaAs surface layer onto the
complementary substrate.
In our ‘‘pol-cut’’ experiments, the GaAs layer
was transferred onto the Si/SiO2 substrate after an
annealing treatment at 2001C. The use of the two-
step procedure drastically reduces the limits
imposed by the difference in thermal expansion
coefficients on layer/substrate combinations. In
our experiments, the transferred GaAs layer
covered about 50% of the 200 Si wafer (Fig. 3).
The thickness of the transferred GaAs layer was
about 400 nm and was homogenous. The trans-
ferred GaAs layer is continuous and flat without
visible cracks (Fig. 4). Microscopic analysis shows
that only separate defects in the form of delami-
nated bubbles of the GaAs foil on Si can be
observed.
GaAs wafer was implanted up to a high dose of
hydrogen, which causes severe crystal lattice
damage. On the other hand, the temperature of
the ‘‘pol-cut’’ process is too low for effective
recrystallisation of the transferred layer. In order
to study the possibility of further annealing, some
samples of GaAs on Si/SiO2 were additionally
Fig. 3. Si/SiO2 wafer (+ 200 ) with deposited GaAs layer (light
area) by the ‘‘pol-cut’’ process.
Fig. 4. SEM micrograph of the cleavage of the Si/SiO2 sample
covered with GaAs layer using the ‘‘pol-cut’’ process.
annealed at temperatures up to 8001C in As+H2
atmosphere. We found that this process did not
lead to any macroscopic defect observed on the
GaAs layer surface. The GaAs layer remains
continuous and flat with no new cracks or blisters.
This experiment opens prospects for application of
such structures in high temperature technological
processes.
4. Conclusions
The main objective of this article is rather to
present the effect than propose its complete
physical mechanism. The role of target tempera-
ture profiling on blister formation evidenced by
two-step hydrogen ion implantation suggests, that
hydrogen implanted at an elevated temperature is
confined in different configurations in the GaAs
lattice than hydrogen implanted at low tempera-
ture. It is likely, that hydrogen ions implanted at
elevated temperatures are more mobile, making
possible the formation of nano-sized complexes.
Hydrogen ions implanted at low temperature are
more homogenously distributed in the target
crystal lattice. In consequence, the GaAs structure
implanted with hydrogen may contain two popu-
lations of implanted hydrogen atoms. Annealing
activates hydrogen atoms implanted at low tem-
perature. These atoms would be trapped by the
 G. Gawlik et al. / Vacuum 70 (2003) 103–107
complexes previously created during high tem-
perature implantation. The role of the first, high
temperature implantation, can thus be attributed
to the formation of small, nanosized hydrogen
clusters. During the annealing process, these
clusters trap the atoms implanted in the second
step allowing the formation of flat blister network
required for the exfoliation.
Finally, it can be stated, that the main advan-
tage of the proposed method consists in low
temperature required for the exfoliation. Samples
of GaAs layers on Si substrate were produced at a
temperature of 2001C. So low annealing tempera-
ture opens an interesting prospect for application
of the same technique for bonding GaAs layers
107
with various substrates characterized by a large
variety of thermal expansion coefficients like
quartz, glass or other oxide crystals used in
optoelectronics.
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