This article was downloaded by: [Michigan State University]

On: 07 March 2015, At: 14:56

Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer
House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Radiation Effects: Incorporating Plasma Science

and Plasma Technology
Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/grad19

Computer calculations of sheet resistance of nand p-type implantations in silicon

a

B. J. Smith & J. Stephen

Electronics and Applied Physics Division , A.E.R.E. , Harwell, Didcot, Berkshire

Published online: 12 Sep 2006.

To cite this article: B. J. Smith & J. Stephen (1972) Computer calculations of sheet resistance of n- and p-type
implantations in silicon, Radiation Effects: Incorporating Plasma Science and Plasma Technology, 14:3-4, 181-184, DOI:
10.1080/00337577208231198
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00337577208231198

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content)
contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors
make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability
for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions
and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of
the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of
information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands,
costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in
any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://
www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

radiation effects 1972, Vol. 14, pp. 181-184

@ GORDONAND BREACH,
SCIENCE
PUBLISHERS
Lm.
Printed in Glasgow, Scotland

COMPUTER CALCULATIONS OF SHEET RESISTANCE OF

n- AND p-TYPE IMPLANTATIONS IN SILICON

Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 14:56 07 March 2015

B. J. SMITH AND J. STEPHEN

EIectronics and AppIied Physics Division, A.E.R.E., Harwell, Didcot, Berkshire
This report describes computer calculations of sheet resistance of ion implanted layers. For Gaussian doping
profiles the sheet resistance depends on the surface concentration and electrical conductivity of the implanted
impurity and the standard deviation in the projected ion range. Universal curves have been produced from which
the sheet resistance of any implanted silicon layer can be derived providing these parameters are known, and
assumingthat all the implanted atoms contribute to the electrical conductivity.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the design of semiconductor devices it is

useful to be able to predict the sheet resistivity in
parts of the wafer following impurity doping.
Irvin(l)has reported calculations of sheet resistance
of some doped semiconductor materials and
Mayer, Eriksson and Daviest2) have described
sheet resistance calculations for ion implanted
phosphorus and boron layers in silicon. These
show that the sheet resistance is sensitive to ion
energy, particularly in the range of resistance values
likely to be used in the fabrication of resistors in
integrated circuits. However in the calculations
by Mayer and coworkers the implanted doping
profile was assumed to be rectangular and therefore
the carrier mobility was also constant over the
depth of the profile. In practice it is possible to
obtain a wide range of doping profiles following
ion implantation, particularly if the target is
crystalline and is oriented so that ion channelling
occurs. (Dearnaley et ~ z l . ( ~ However
))
for amorphous target materials and single crystals which are
not oriented in a channelling direction Lindhard,
Scharff and Schi~itt'~)
have shown that the profile
is Gaussian with the doping peak at the projected
range.
The calculations reported here assume a Gaussian
doping profile with the doping density N ( x ) per
cm3 described by the relationship:
Ns
N(x) = -- exp ( - x2/2u2)
U

JG

where x is the distance from the Gaussian peak, u

is the standard deviation in the dopant depth and
N, is the area under the profile which corresponds
to the total number of implanted ions per unit

surface area being considered. The sheet resistance

R,,has been calculated from the relationship

where p(N(x)) is the carrier mobility and q is the

electronic charge. It should be observed that sheet
resistance is independent of the projected ion
range.
The mobility p ( N ( x ) ) is a function of N ( x ) and
the value at a particular doping concentration can
be found from the resistivity against doping concentration curves of Irvin(l) and Sze and Trvin.(s)
These values were for bulk doped and diffusion
doped silicon. Ion implanted silicon may have a
lower mobility due to the influence of defects in the
lattice.
I t is seen that the three parameters N,, u and
p(N(x)) required to calculate R, are not unique to
any ion and therefore curves of sheet resistance
against ion dose (ions/crn2) can be calculated for
particular values of u. If the ion dose and standard
deviation, u, are known for a particular implantation then the sheet resistance can be found from
the curves. Separate curves are required for donor
and acceptor impurities.
The calculations reported here make no allowance for the contribution made by the background
doping of the silicon substrate, and therefore
represent the sheet resistance that would be
obtained by implanting into intrinsic silicon. If
the substrate has the same conductivity type as the
implanted impurity then the contribution to the
conductivity by the background doping can be
neglected, except for very light implants when the
mobility will be sufficiently high and constant to

B. J. SMITH AND J. STEPHEN

Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 14:56 07 March 2015

182

Ln

I
0
W

I o3

tW
W

r
10'

10'
I(

SURFACE

I O N DOSE

(IONS

/ CM2)

FIG. 1. Sheet resistance of silicon implanted with n type dopant ions. The curves are, in descending order, for standard
deviations of 0.0025, 0.0075, 0.0125, 0.0250, 0.0500, 0.0750, 0.100, 0.125, 0.150 and 0.175 microns.

allow simple addition of the two conduction

components. If the substrate is of the opposite
type a p-n junction is produced between the
implanted layer and the substrate, isolating or even
burying the layer. The position in depth of the
p-n junction and hence the thickness of the layer
are determined by the projected range and the
standard deviation of the ions, and the background
doping. If the p-n junction occurs within about
3a of the Gaussian peak then the sheet resistance

will, in practice, be higher than the value given by

the curves. This occurs when N,/NB 1: 250a where
N B is the background doping (atoms/cm3). However a 5 per cent error in sheet resistance does not
occur until NJNB N 20a.
2. METHOD OF CALCULATION
The evaluation of the integral in Eq. (2) was
carried out over the depth range x = -30 to

COMPUTER CALCULATIONS OF SHEET RESISTANCE

183

1 Ob

.
tn

Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 14:56 07 March 2015

I
I
0
v

I 0'

I o3

IW
W

I
ffl

I oz

SURFACE

ION

DOSE

(IONS/ CMZ

FIG. 2. Sheet resistance of silicon implanted withp type dopant ions. The curves are, in descending order, for standard
deviation of 0.0025, 0.0075, 0.0125, 0.0250, 0.0500, 0.0750, 0.100, 0.125, 0.150 and 0.175 microns.

+ 30. This range, which includes 99.7 per cent

of all the dopant atoms, was divided in 100 equal
divisions and the value of N(x) determined at the
centre of each. It was assumed that all the implanted atoms were electrically active. p(N(x)) was
then interpolated from a table of values calculated
from the data of Irvin(l)and Sze and Irvin(5)for the
appropriate conductivity type. The contribution
of each segment to the integral was summed and
the value for the whole profile obtained. These

x =

'

R.E.

A6

calculations were performed for 31 values of N,

between 10l1and l0l6 ions/cm2and for 10 values of
a in the range 0.0025 to 0.175 microns. As the
mobility-density relationship is different for n and
p type carriers the calculations were carried out for
both types of carrier.
A digital computer was used for the calculations, To eliminate errors in plotting the data
the graphical data was plotted directly by the
computer.

184

B. J. SMITH AND J. STEPHEN

Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 14:56 07 March 2015

3. RESULTS
Figures 1 and 2 show the results of the calculations for n and p type calculations respectively.
The sheet resistance is plotted against surface ion
dose for ten values of (r. These are 0.0025, 0.0075,
0.0125, 0.0500, 0.0750, 0.1000, 0.1250, 0.1500 and
0.1750 microns. This range covers most of the
implantations likely to be encountered with ion
energies up to 1000 key.
To determine the sheet resistance it is necessary
to know the surface ion dose, N , and the standard
deviation, u, in the projected ion range. The former
is normally under the control of the user and
theoretical values of the latter have been reported
by Johnson and Gibbons@)and Smith.()

REFERENCES
1. J. C. Irvin, Bell Syst. TeckJ., 41,2,387 (1962).
2. J. W. Mayer, L. Eriksson, and J. A. Davies, Ion Implantation in Semiconductors pub. Academic Press
(1970).
3. G. Dearnaley, Proc. European Conf. Ion Implantation,
162. pub. Peter Pereginus Ltd. (1970).
4. J. Lindhard, M. ScharEand H. E. Schilatt,Mat. Fys. Medd.
Dan. Vid.Selsk., 33, No. 14 (1963).
5. S. M. Sze and J. C. Irvin, Solid State Electronics, 11, 599
(1968).
6. W. S. Johnson and J. F. Gibbons, Projected Range
Statistics in Semiconductors, Dist. by Stanford
University Bookstore (1969).
7. B. J. Smith, Projected Ion Range Data for Silicon
Technology.A.E.R.E. Harwell R.6660 (1971).