Stepped masking for patterned implantation

A method of implanting a pattern into a substrate, comprising:

• placing a mask having at least one aperture between said substrate and an ion source;
• implanting ions in a first region of said substrate aligned with said aperture;
• moving said mask in a first direction relative to said substrate such that said aperture is aligned to a second region of said substrate;
• implanting ions in said second region of said substrate, whereby a portion of said first region and a portion of said second region overlap;
• moving said mask in a second direction relative to said substrate such that said aperture is aligned to a third region of said substrate, wherein said second direction is perpendicular to said first direction;
• implanting ions in said third region of said substrate, whereby a portion of said third region and a portion of said second region overlap;
• moving said mask in said second direction relative to said substrate such that said aperture is aligned to a fourth region of said substrate;
• and
• implanting ions in said fourth region of said substrate, whereby a portion of said fourth region and a portion of said third region overlap.

A method of implanting a pattern into a substrate, comprising:

• placing a mask having at least one aperture between said substrate and an ion source;
• moving said mask in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to said first direction such that multiple regions of said substrate are exposed through said aperture, wherein each of said multiple regions overlaps with another of said multiple regions;
• and
• implanting ions into said multiple regions during a plurality of implant steps to form a grid of heavily-implanted areas that are implanted more than a surface of said substrate between said heavily-implanted areas.