Characterization of lateral surface-oriented pin diodes fabricated in zone-melting recrystallized silicon-on-insulator structures which contain an integral viscoelastic stress relief layer

High-gradient laser zone melting recrystallization (ZMR) of patterned silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures which contain a viscous flow layer for stress relief has been studied as a means for providing a device-quality silicon film on a dielectric substrate for the implementation of silicon microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs). Dielectric substrate materials which include polycrystalline sapphire (alumina) and fused-silica were utilized for the fabrication of SOI structures, and a chemical vapor deposited phosphosilicate glass layer was incorporated into the SOI composite for high-temperature stress relief. The polysilicon layer within these structures is patterned into isolated mesas as a means for limiting the maximum in-plane stress in the active device layer during the ZMR process, and a model is presented which relates the mesa pattern dimension and the viscous flow layer temperature-dependent viscosity to the maximum elastic stress in the patterned device layer. The validity of the viscoelastic model for stress relief is investigated by measurement of the Raman-Stokes first-order wavenumber shift in recrystallized continuous film and patterned SOI structures.;Lateral surface-oriented PIN diode structures were fabricated in recrystallized silicon-on-fused silica, and DC electrical analysis and open-circuit voltage decay measurements performed on the PIN diodes indicate that the nominal recombination lifetime in the recrystallized material is 20 nS. Crystalline defects which include subgrain boundaries and misfit dislocation arrays were defined as cause of the low recombination lifetime. Conventional switching figures-of-merit for microwave control device applications are calculated from measured lateral PIN diode device parameters, and the utility of recrystallized silicon-on-fused substrate material for use in a MMIC format is presented.