Hydrogen annealing effects on epitaxy of SOI wafer

Thick silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers have been fabricated by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) after separation by implantation of oxygen (SIMOX) process. The hydrogen annealing effects on epitaxial Si layer were studied. The hydrogen annealing could remove the surface damages of substrate caused by SIMOX process and provide a smoother epitaxial substrate. The number of dislocations and stacking faults in the epitaxial layer decreased remarkably by hydrogen annealing SOI substrate. Meanwhile, compared with other reports, our hydrogen annealing did not degrade the buried oxide layer and top Si layer of SOI substrate.