Method of reducing stacking faults through annealing

摘要

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for reducing stacking faults in an epitaxial semiconductor layer. In accordance with such method, a substrate is provided which includes a first single-crystal semiconductor region including a first semiconductor material, the first semiconductor region having a 110 crystal orientation. An epitaxial layer including the first semiconductor material is grown on the first semiconductor region, the epitaxial layer having the 110 crystal orientation. The substrate is then annealed with the epitaxial layer at a temperature greater than 1100 degrees Celsius in an ambient including hydrogen, whereby the step of annealing reduces stacking faults in the epitaxial layer.