102

Integrated

Circuits

t t t
BzH6 Oz (Gaseous source) Nz

~ ~

..

(a)

IInrJ.-Liquid Oz tc~ source

N2 BBrJ (bJ
-

~~1i~~~~~1 &~~~~~~
Silicon wafer
~

Fig.4.15.Diffusionof borondopants:

Fig.4.16.Borondiffusion:cBSG

(0) gaseous source; (b) liquid source. glass layer on silicon wafer. This process is the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of a glassy layer on the silion surface which is a mixture of silica glass (Si02) and boron glass.{BzO3) is caned borosilica glass (BSG). The BSG glassy layer, shown in Fig. 4.16, is a viscousliqllid at the diffusion temperatures and the boron atoms can move around relatively easily. Furthennore, the boron concentration in the BSG is such that the silicon surface will be slturated with boron at the solid solUbility limit throughout the time of the diffusion process as long as BSG remains present. This is a constant source (erfc) diffusion. It is often called a deposition diffusion. This diffusion step is referred as predeposition sJep in which the dopant atoms deposit into the surface regions (say 0.3 IJlIl depth} of the silicon wafers. The BSG is preferable because it protects the silicon atoms from pitting or evaporating and acts as a "getter"for undesirable impurities in the silicon. It is etched off before next diffusion as discussed below. The predeposition step, is followed by a second djffusion process in which the exterual dopant source (BSG) is removed such that no additional dopants enter the silicon. During this diffusion process the dopants that are alreadyin the silicon move further in and are thus redistributed. The junction depth increases, and at the same time tl1e surface concentration decreases. This type of diffusion is called drive-in, or redistribution, or limited-source (Gaussian diffw;ion). The impurity profile for such type of diffusion is already disCl!Ssed. The two-step diffusion combination of deposition diffusi'1 (predeposition step) followed by a drive-in diffusion is often used to produce the base region of transistors. " )tqron Diffusion using BBr3 (B()ron Tribromide) Source. This is a liquid source of boron. In this case a controlled flow of carrier gas (N2fis bubbled through boron tribromide, as shown in Fig. 4.15 (b), which with oxygen again produces boron trioxide (BSG) at the surface of the wafers as per following reaction:

4BBr3+ 3b2-7
Thereafterthereaction
-'

BP3+ 2Bi2

is as discussed above.

4.4.3. Diffusion of n- Type Impurity

For phosphorus diffusion such compOllnds as PH3 (phosphine) and POCl3 (phosphorus oxychloride) can be use<I. Infthe case of a:diffflsion using POCl3 the reactions occurring at the silicon wafer surfaces will be: Si t O2-7 r 4 POCl3 + 302-7

Si02 (silica glass) 2Pps

(phos~horus glass)

=+6Cl2

~~._-

=~--

-~

--

---

- ---- - 104

-- ------Integrated Circuits

The four-point probe can be used to measure the sheet resistance of various types of diffused layers, epitaxiallayerscand that of silicon wafers for the measurement of the resistivity. The sheet resistance values of diffused layers generally fall in the range from I-ohm/square upto about 1000 ohm/square. The transistor base diffused layer has a sheet resistance of typically about 200-0hm/square, and the n+ emitter diffused layer has down in the range of around 2-ohm/square. 4.5. ION IMPLANTATION Ion implantation is an alternative to a de osition di usion and is used to produce a shallow surface re ion of opant atoms deposIte into a silicon wafer. This technology has ma e significant in roads mto diffusion techno ogy in several areas.!! ISprocessa beam of impurity ions is accelerated to kinetic energies in the range of several tens ofkV and is directed to the surtace 01 the SIlIcon. As the impurity atoms enter the crystal, they give up their energy to the lattice in collisions and finally come to rest at some average penetration depth, called the projected range expressed in J.ll11. Depending on the impurity and its implantation energy, the range in.a given semiconductor may vary from a few hundred angstroms to about 1 J.ll11. Typical distribution of impurity about the projected range is approximately Gaussian. By performing several implantations at ~ifferent energies, it is possible to synthesize a desired impurity distribution, for example an uniformly doped region. 4.5.1. Ion Implantation System A typical ion implantation system is shown in Fig. 4.18. Mass separator having electromagnet

lighter ions Ion beam First electrical (ense

Silicon. wafers

Target cham ber Fig. 4.18. Ion implantation system. A gas containing the desired .impurity is ionized withill the ion source. The ions are generated and repelled from their source in a diverging beam that is focussed before it passes through a mass seperator that directs only the ions of the desired species through a narrow aperature. A second lens focuses this resolved beanl which then passes through an accelerator that brings the ions to their required eilergy before they strike the target and become implanted in the exposed areas of the silicon wafers. The accelerating voltages may be from 20 kY. to as much as 250 kV. In some ion implanters, the mass separation occurs after the ions are accelerated to high energy. Because the ion beam is small, means are provided for scanning it unifonnly across the wafers. For this purpose the focussed ion beam is scanned electrostatically over the surface of the wafer in the targeT chamber. .l~ Repetitive scanning in a raster pattern provides exceptionally unifOffil doping of the wafer surface. The target chamber commonly includes automatic wafer handling facilities to speed up the process of implanting many wafers per hour. 4.5.2. Properties of Ion Implantation The depth of penetration of any particular type of ion will increase with increasing accelerating voltage. The penetration depth will generally be in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 J.ll11. Table 4.1 shows various projected ranges, Rp , for various typical accelerating voltages for boron and phosphorus ions in silicon.

'"

""

Monolithic IC Processes ; Energy (kV) 20 100 200 300

105

Table 4.1. Projected Ranges(Rp) for Boron and Phosphorus Ions in Silicon
Rp'ofboron :7(lm) 0.067 0.30 0.52 0.70 Rp of phosphorus (lm) 0.026 0.123 '0.254 0.386

... ... ... ...

Impurity Distribution of Implanted Ions. The distribution of the implanted ions as a function of distance x from the silicon surface will be a Gaussian distribution, given by . N(x);::;Npexp (x -Rp? 2 2Mp ]

[.

...(4.13)

b II
II

where

distance into substrate from surface

;::; ;::; ;::;

Rp
Mp Np

projected range straggle (standard deviation) of the projected range

''

peak concentration of implanted ions.

~
.

r"

An ion implantation impurity profile is shown in Fig. 4.19. The peak impJanted ion concentration is related to the implantation dosage Q by Q N;::; Q .. .(4.14) p {iitMp - 04( . Mp )
,-

[
',,

il m

,.
~

II
II

HX-Rp)21

.-N(x)=Npexp
t~ x z 0 R -L':.R,Rp JI ~-R L':.R p p p+ P

l2t.R~

'"

II

x-

II

Fig. 4.19. Ion implantation impurity profile.

(1 f'

The implanta]:iondosage Q is the number of implanted ions per unit of surface area as given by such units as ions/cm2. The ion density drops off rapidly from the peak'value with distance as measurea from Rp in either direction. Note that the Gaussian implanted ion profile will be tmncatedat x";::; O. Annealing after Implantation. After the ions have been implanted they are lodged principally in interstitial positions in the silicon crystal structure, and the surface region into which the implantation has taken place will be heavily damaged by the impact of the high-energy ions. The disarray of silicon atoms in the surface region is often tothe extentthatthisregion is no longercrystalline in stmctu~but, rather, amorphous. To restore this surface region back to a well-ordered crystalline state and to allow the implanted ions to go into substitutional sites in the crystal structure,the wafer must be subjected to an annealing~ process. The annealing process usually involves the heating of the wafers to sonie elevated temperature, often in the range of 1000C for a suitable length of time such as 30 minutes.

I Ii

,~ ii

qh

ti ', , ',j 1 f' I .,-~

J~