This subject is divided into two volumes. Volume I is on homoepitaxy with the necessary systems, techniques, and models for growth and dopant incorporation. Three chapters on homoepitaxy are followed by two chapters describing the different ways in which MBE may be applied to create insulator/Si stackings which may be used for three-dimensional circuits. The two remaining chapters in Volume I are devoted to device applications. The first three chapters of Volume II treat all aspects of heteroepitaxy with the exception of the epitaxial insulator/Si structures already treated in volume I.

Epitaxial Silicon Technology is a single-volume, in-depth review of all the silicon epitaxial growth techniques. This technology is being extended to the growth of epitaxial layers on insulating substrates by means of a variety of lateral seeding approaches. This book is divided into five chapters, and the opening chapter describes the growth of silicon layers by vapor-phase epitaxy, considering both atmospheric and low-pressure growth. The second chapter discusses molecular-beam epitaxial growth of silicon, providing a unique ability to grow very thin layers with precisely controlled doping characteristics. The third chapter introduces the silicon liquid-phase epitaxy, in which the growth of silicon layers arose from a need to decrease the growth temperature and to suppress autodoping. The fourth chapter addresses the growth of silicon on sapphire for improving the radiation hardness of CMOS integrated circuits. The fifth chapter deals with the advances in the application of silicon epitaxial growth. This chapter also discusses the formation of epitaxial layers of silicon on insulators, such as silicon dioxide, which do not provide a natural single crystal surface for growth. Each chapter begins with a discussion on the fundamental transport mechanisms and the kinetics governing the growth rate, followed by a description of the electrical properties that can be achieved in the layers and the restrictions imposed by the growth technique upon the control over its electrical characteristics. Each chapter concludes with a discussion on the applications of the particular growth technique. This reference material will be useful for process technologists and engineers who may need to apply epitaxial growth for device fabrication.

In the field of logic circuits in microelectronics, the leadership of silicon is now strongly established due to the achievement of its technology. Near unity yield of one million transistor chips on very large wafers (6 inches today, 8 inches tomorrow) are currently accomplished in industry. The superiority of silicon over other material can be summarized as follow: - The Si/Si0 interface is the most perfect passivating interface ever 2 obtained (less than 10" e y-I cm2 interface state density) - Silicon has a large thermal conductivity so that large crystals can be pulled. - Silicon is a hard material so that large wafers can be handled safely. - Silicon is thermally stable up to 1100°C so that numerous metallurgical operations (oxydation, diffusion, annealing ... ) can be achieved safely. - There is profusion of silicon on earth so that the base silicon wafer is cheap. Unfortunatly, there are fundamental limits that cannot be overcome in silicon due to material properties: laser action, infra-red detection, high mobility for instance. The development of new technologies of deposition and growth has opened new possibilities for silicon based structures. The well known properties of silicon can now be extended and properly used in mixed structures for areas such as opto-electronics, high-speed devices. This has been pioneered by the integration of a GaAs light emitting diode on a silicon based structure by an MIT group in 1985.

The primary thrust of very large scale integration (VLS!) is the miniaturization of devices to increase packing density, achieve higher speed, and consume lower power. The fabrication of integrated circuits containing in excess of four million components per chip with design rules in the submicron range has now been made possible by the introduction of innovative circuit designs and the development of new microelectronic materials and processes. This book addresses the latter challenge by assessing the current status of the science and technology associated with the production of VLSI silicon circuits. It represents the cumulative effort of experts from academia and industry who have come together to blend their expertise into a tutorial overview and cohesive update of this rapidly expanding field. A balance of fundamental and applied contributions cover the basics of microelectronics materials and process engineering. Subjects in materials science include silicon, silicides, resists, dielectrics, and interconnect metallization. Subjects in process engineering include crystal growth, epitaxy, oxidation, thin film deposition, fine-line lithography, dry etching, ion implantation, and diffusion. Other related topics such as process simulation, defects phenomena, and diagnostic techniques are also included. This book is the result of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (AS!) held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. Invited speakers at this institute provided manuscripts which were edited, updated, and integrated with other contributions solicited from non-participants to this AS!.