Formation of doped regions and/or ultra-shallow junctions in semiconductor materials by gas-cluster ion irradiation
AssigneeTEL Epion Inc.
InventorsAllen R. Kirkpatrick, Sean Kirkpatrick, Martin D. Tabat, Thomas G. Tetreault, John O. Borland, John J. Hautala, Wesley J. Skinner
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Abstract
Method of forming one or more doped regions in a semiconductor substrate and semiconductor junctions formed thereby, using gas cluster ion beams.
Claims52
A method for forming one or more doped regions in a semiconductor substrate,
- comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a reduced-pressure environment around a substrate holder for holding a semiconductor substrate having a surface;
- holding the semiconductor substrate securely within said reduced-pressure environment;
- providing to said reduced-pressure environment a gas-cluster ion beam formed from a pressurized gas mixture including an inert gas and at least one dopant atom species;
- accelerating the gas-cluster ion beam;
- and
- irradiating the accelerated gas cluster ion beam onto one or more portions of the surface of the semiconductor substrate to form one or more doped semiconductor regions within the substrate.
A method for redistributing the dopant atoms in a doped semiconductor region at or near the surface of a semiconductor substrate, the dopant atoms having an initially peaked concentration distribution, comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a reduced-pressure environment around a substrate holder for holding
- a semiconductor substrate having a doped region at or near a surface of the semiconductor substrate;
- holding the semiconductor substrate securely within said reduced-pressure environment;
- providing to said reduced-pressure environment a gas-cluster ion beam formed from a pressurized gas including at least one noble gas;
- accelerating the gas-cluster ion beam;
- irradiating the accelerated gas cluster ion beam onto one or more portions of the doped semiconductor regions at or near the surface of the semiconductor substrate so as to redistribute dopant atoms in the doped semiconductor region.
A method for re-crystallizing a damaged semiconductor thin film at the surface of a substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a reduced pressure vacuum chamber containing a substrate holder for holding the substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate;
- holding the substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate on said substrate holder within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber;
- selecting an energy for gas cluster ion processing;
- generating a gas cluster ion beam within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber;
- accelerating the gas cluster ion beam to said selected energy;
- and
- directing the accelerated gas cluster ion beam onto and within at least a portion of
- the damaged semiconductor thin film to process the film to reduce the amount of damage and improve the crystallinity thereof.
A method for electrically activating dopant atoms in a doped semiconductor thin film overlying the surface of a substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a reduced pressure vacuum chamber containing a substrate holder for holding the substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate;
- holding the substantially crystalline semiconductor substrate on said substrate holder within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber;
- selecting an energy for gas cluster ion processing;
- generating a gas cluster ion beam within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber;
- accelerating the gas cluster ion beam to said selected energy;
- and
- directing the accelerated gas cluster ion beam onto and within at least a portion of the doped semiconductor thin film so as to electrically activate at least a portion of the dopant atoms.
A method of forming a doped ultra-shallow subsurface region of a semiconductor substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a reduced pressure vacuum chamber containing a substrate holder for holding the semiconductor substrate;
- holding the semiconductor substrate on said substrate holder within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber;
- selecting a ratio of dopant to non-dopant gas molecules or atoms;
- selecting an energy for gas cluster ion processing;
- selecting a dose for gas cluster ion processing;
- generating, within said reduced pressure vacuum chamber, a gas cluster ion beam comprising dopant and non-dopant molecules or atoms in approximately the selected ratio;
- accelerating the gas cluster ion beam to said selected energy;
- and
- directing the accelerated gas cluster ion beam onto a portion of the surface of the semiconductor substrate so as to irradiate the portion of the surface of the semiconductor substrate with approximately the selected dose of dopant molecules or atoms to form a doped ultra-shallow subsurface region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.