Epitaxial Growth of Ga-doped SiGe for Reduction of Contact Resistance in finFET Source/Drain Materials

Here we evaluate in-situ Ga doping of SiGe as an alternative to ex-situ ion implantation for source/drain contact formation. Si0.5Ge0.5 layers are grown on an ASM Intrepid ES high volume CVD reactor and co-doped with B and Ga. A circular transmission line measurement (CTLM) comparison of SiGe:B and SiGe:B:Ga is presented and we report a statistically significant improvement in contact resistivity with the addition of Ga. The Ti/SiGe contacts formed with the B-doped sample had an average ρc ~ 9 x 10-9 Ω-cm2 while the best Ga/B co-doped sample yielded an average ρc ~ 2.5 x 10-9 Ω-cm2. We also evaluate the epitaxial growth on fin patterned wafers and we are able to demonstrate high crystalline quality SiGe:Ga layers without loss of selectivity on the dielectric areas of the wafer.