Homoepitaxial layers of p-type zinc oxide and the fabrication thereof
AssigneeEagle-Picher Technologies, LLC
InventorsHenry E. Cantwell, David B. Eason
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A semiconductor structure for providing an epitaxial zinc oxide layer having p-type conduction for semiconductor device manufacture and methods of depositing the p-type zinc oxide layer. A zinc oxide layer is deposited epitaxially by molecular beam epitaxy on a crystalline zinc oxide substrate. The zinc oxide layer incorporates a p-type dopant, such as nitrogen, in an atomic concentration adequate to provide p-type conduction. The p-type zinc oxide layer may further incorporate an atomic concentration of a compensating species, such as lithium, sufficient to electronically occupy excess donors therein so that the efficiency of the p-type dopant may be increased.
Claims34
A semiconductor structure comprising:
- a single-crystal zinc oxide substrate having a surface;
- and
- a zinc oxide layer formed epitaxially on said surface of said zinc oxide substrate, said zinc oxide layer including an atomic concentration of a p-type dopant sufficient to provide p-type conduction.
A semiconductor structure comprising:
- a single-crystal zinc oxide substrate;
- and
- a zinc oxide layer formed epitaxially on said zinc oxide substrate, said zinc oxide layer including a first atomic concentration of a p-type dopant and a second atomic concentration of a compensating dopant operative to electronically compensate for excess donors in said zinc oxide layer, said zinc oxide layer exhibiting p-type conduction.
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device structure, comprising:
- providing a single crystal zinc oxide substrate having a surface on which a zinc oxide layer is to be deposited;
- positioning the zinc oxide substrate in a molecular beam epitaxy system;
- forming a first flux containing zinc in the molecular beam epitaxy system;
- forming a second flux containing oxygen atomic species in the molecular beam epitaxy system, the first and the second fluxes having relative magnitudes adequate to deposit zinc oxide;
- forming a third flux containing atomic species of a p-type dopant in the molecular beam epitaxy system, the p-type dopant being present in the third flux in an amount sufficient to provide p-type conduction in zinc oxide;
- heating the semiconductor substrate to a deposition temperature sufficient to promote crystalline deposition of a zinc oxide layer on the surface of the zinc oxide substrate;
- and
- applying the first, second and third fluxes to the surface of the zinc oxide substrate for a duration sufficient to epitaxially deposit thereon the zinc oxide layer doped with the p-type dopant in an atomic concentration sufficient to provide the zinc oxide layer with p-type conduction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.