The gettering and electrical activity of Ni, Au, And Cu in epitaxial Si/Si (2%Ge)/Si during RTA

This paper reports on a study of gettering and electrical activity of metallic impurities Ni, Au and Cu that has been carried to on epitaxial. The impurities were intentionally introduced from a backside deposited thin metal followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) results indicate that the impurities were gettered along the misfit dislocation in near-surface regions either as Au precipitate colonies, or as NiSi2 and CuSi silicide precipitates. Data from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in the Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) mode revealed that these precipitates dominate the recombination properties of the initially inactive misfit dislocation