Germanium Surface Preparation Methods

Germanium is gaining interest in the semiconductor industry as a replacement channel material for high mobility applications. Contamination directly affects the device performance, yield and reliability. Therefore, continued device scaling is dependent on effective surface preparation including effective contamination and particle removal of germanium surface. Cleaning and preparation methods for silicon surface have been extensively developed over the past few decades. Germanium surface cleaning and preparation is at its infancy and is markedly different from that of silicon. This book examines these differences and fundamentals involved in germanium surface cleaning. This book also proposes methods for basic germanium surface cleaning and the basis for further process development for professionals involved in surface cleaning of semiconductor materials.