Formation of silicon-on-diamond by direct bonding of plasma-synthesized diamond-like carbon to silicon

We propose to replace the buried SiO2 layer in silicon-on-insulator with a plasma synthesized diamond-like-carbon (DLC) thin film to mitigate the self-heating effects. The DLC films synthesized on silicon by a plasma immersion ion implantation & deposition process exhibit outstanding surface topography, and excellent insulating properties are maintained up to an annealing temperature of 900degreesC. Hence, the degree of graphitization in our DLC materials is insignificant during thin-film transistor processing and even in most annealing steps in conventional complementary metal oxide silicon processing. Using Si/DLC direct bonding and the hydrogen-induced layer transfer method, a silicon-on-diamond structure has been fabricated. Cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that the bonded interface is abrupt and the top Si layer exhibits nearly perfect single crystalline quality. A model is postulated to describe the reactions occurring at the interface during the annealing steps in Si-DLC wafer bonding. (C) American Institute of Physics.