Ge/Si multilayer epitaxy and removal of dislocations from Ge-nanosheet-channel MOSFETs

Horizontally stacked pure-Ge-nanosheet gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAA FETs) were developed in this study. Large lattice mismatch Ge/Si multilayers were intentionally grown as the starting material rather than Ge/GeSi multilayers to acquire the benefits of the considerable difference in material properties of Ge and Si for realising selective etching. Flat Ge/Si multilayers were grown at a low temperature to preclude island growth. The shape of Ge nanosheets was almost retained after etching owing to the excellent selectivity. Additionally, dislocations were observed in suspended Ge nanosheets because of the absence of a Ge/Si interface and the disappearance of the dislocation-line tension force owing to the elongation of misfit dislocation at the interface. Forming gas annealing of the suspended Ge nanosheets resulted in a significant increase in the glide force compared to the dislocation-line tension force; the dislocations were easily removed because of this condition and the small size of the nanosheets. Based on this structure, a new mechanism of dislocation removal from suspended Ge nanosheet structures by annealing was described, which resulted in the structures exhibiting excellent gate control and electrical properties.