Electrical properties of Si/Si bonded wafers based on an amorphous Ge interlayer

An amorphous Ge（a-Ge） intermediate layer is introduced into the Si bonded interface to lower the annealing temperature and achieve good electrical characteristics. The interface and electrical characteristics of nSi/n-Si and p-Si/n-Si junctions manufactured by low-temperature wafer bonding based on a thin amorphous Ge are investigated. It is found that the bubble density tremendously decreases when the a-Ge film is not immersed in DI water. This is due to the decrease of the –OH groups. In addition, when the samples are annealed at 400 °C for20 h, the bubbles totally disappear. This can be explained by the appearance of the polycrystalline Ge（absorption of H;） at the bonded interface. The junction resistance of the n-Si/n-Si bonded wafers decreases with the increase of the annealing temperature. This is consistent with the recrystallization of the a-Ge when high-temperature annealing is conducted. The carrier transport of the Si-based PN junction annealed at 350 °C is consistent with the trap-assisted tunneling model and that annealed at 400 °C is related to the carrier recombination model.

An amorphous Ge(a-Ge) intermediate layer is introduced into the Si bonded interface to lower the annealing temperature and achieve good electrical characteristics. The interface and electrical characteristics of nSi/n-Si and p-Si/n-Si junctions manufactured by low-temperature wafer bonding based on a thin amorphous Ge are investigated. It is found that the bubble density tremendously decreases when the a-Ge film is not immersed in DI water. This is due to the decrease of the –OH groups. In addition, when the samples are annealed at 400 °C for20 h, the bubbles totally disappear. This can be explained by the appearance of the polycrystalline Ge(absorption of H_2) at the bonded interface. The junction resistance of the n-Si/n-Si bonded wafers decreases with the increase of the annealing temperature. This is consistent with the recrystallization of the a-Ge when high-temperature annealing is conducted. The carrier transport of the Si-based PN junction annealed at 350 °C is consistent with the trap-assisted tunneling model and that annealed at 400 °C is related to the carrier recombination model.