In-Situ monitoring of temperature and alloy composition of Hg1−xCdxTe using FTIR spectroscopic techniques

Abstract: Optical real-time in-situ sensors play a very important role in the processing of semiconductor devices because of their noncontact remote nature and excellent compatibility with UHV systems. In this work, we report on progress in developing an in-situ temperature sensor for HgCdTe structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Based on the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, this sensor is capable of continuous real-time monitoring of the surface temperature, thickness and alloy composition of HgCdTe epilayers. The accuracy and sensitivity of this FTIR technique were studied in all temperature ranges of interest. Also compared are two different methods of temperature determination obtained from the normalized spectral radiance. The influence of stray radiation and of sample holder rotation on the measurement accuracy have been studied. Reflectivity spectra for HgCdTe/CdZnTe(211) and HgCdTe/CdTe(211)/Si(211) structures have been analyzed in real time in order to determine the layer thickness and alloy composition for growing layers. Also discussed is a multilayer-structure optical model developed to solve the problem of composition determination at early stages of growth. The application of this model for fitting the transmission spectra is demonstrated.