Microwave energized process for the preparation of high quality semiconductor material
AssigneeUnited Solar Systems Corporation
InventorsSubhendu Guha, Chi C. Yang, XiXiang Xu
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Abstract
High quality semiconductor material is deposited in a microwave energized glow discharge deposition process by energizing a process gas with microwave energy at a power level sufficient to generate a plasma at or near the 100% saturation mode and by impeding access of deposition species to the substrate so as to lower the deposition rate to a value less than that otherwise achieved operating at the 100% saturation mode.
Claims10
A method for the microwave energized deposition of a non-polycrystalline semiconductor material, said method including the steps of:
- providing a deposition chamber;
- disposing a substrate in said deposition chamber;
- introducing a processing gas including at least one semiconductor precursor material, into said chamber;
- maintaining said processing gas at a pressure;
- providing a source of microwave power to introduce microwave energy into said deposition chamber;
- energizing said source of microwave power at a level selected to create a plasma from said processing gas, at the 100% saturation mode, said plasma having a concentration of deposition species sufficient to deposit a layer of semiconductor material on said substrate at a first deposition rate;
- and
- controlling access of said deposition species to said substrate so that the actual deposition rate of the semiconductor material onto said substrate is less than said first deposition rate.
A method for the microwave energized deposition of a non-polycrystalline semiconductor material, said method including the steps of providing a deposition chamber;
- disposing a substrate in said chamber;
- introducing a processing gas, including at least one semiconductor precursor material, into said chamber;
- maintaining said processing gas at a pressure;
- providing a source of microwave power to introduce microwave energy into said deposition chamber;
- energizing said source of microwave power so as to create a plasma from said processing gas at a 100% saturation mode, said plasma including a concentration of deposition species therein sufficient to deposit a layer of semiconductor material on said substrate at a first deposition rate which is greater than 50 angstroms per second;
- and
- controlling the access of said deposition species to said substrate so that the actual deposition rate of the semiconductor material onto said substrate is in the range of 10-50 angstroms per second.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.