Non-destructive techniques are ideal for process control and
process development. They do not involve any special wafer treatment
and the wafers can be further processed in the manufacturing
line. A relatively new technique that can be applied to materials
characterizations is room temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL).
Defects can be revealed because of the enhanced non-radiative
recombination at the defect site. The efficiency of detecting
defects in SiGe was evaluated. Defects could be detected in blanket
film SiGe layers, and there was a good correlation with bright
field microscopy inspection and laser scanning methods. The effect
of ex-situ cleaning, pre-bake and Boron doping conditions have
been investigated. The results follow the expected trends, more
defects for non-standard processing. The defects detected by
RT-PL were confirmed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Defects could also be detected in part-processed patterned wafers,
giving a direct indication of the material quality in product
wafers.