Ion Implantation

Ion Implantation

Zhu Chunxiang/EE5434 Sem II 2011/12

Course Outline
1. Introduction 2. Simple Theory of Ion Implantation
Ion Distribution Ion Stopping Channeling Damage and Annealing

3. Equipment

1. Introduction
Precise controlled dosage for ion implantation of over 6 orders of magnitude. Doses range: from 1012 ions/cm2 for threshold adjustment to 1018 ions/cm2 for buried insulators. Ion beam current in implanters ranges between about 10 A and 30 mA, depending on the implant species, energy, and model of implanter. Dose , the number of implanted ions per unit area, is defined as

It cos qA

[atoms/cm2]

(1)

Precise controlled depth profile Energy range from < 1 keV for shallow junction to > 1 MeV for buried layer formation, resulting in ion distributions with average depths ranging from 100 to 10 m. Wide selection of dopants and substrates, not limited by solid solubility. Low temperature process : cold process Doping through a thin sacrificial surface layer is possible. Ion implantation causes damage to the implanted lattice needs proper subsequent annealing process.

2. Simple Theory of Ion Implantation

Ion Distribution Ion Stopping Channeling Damage and Annealing

2.1 Ion Distribution

As each ion enters the target (silicon), it undergoes a series of collisions with target until it finally comes to rest at some depth.

A Monte-Carlo simulation of 128 ion tracks for 50 keV boron implanted into silicon shows ====================== Even though each implanted ion has a random path in the silicon, their average behavior can be predicted since dose is usually more than 1012 ions/cm2. Projection range : RP Standard deviation of the projection range : RP

Rp and Rp
When impurity ions are implanted into -silicon (to exclude channeling effect), the profile can be approximated as Gaussian distribution (LSS Lindhad, Scharff, and Schiott theory) :

(x RP )2 n ( x ) = n 0 exp 2 2R P
Total dose

(2)

n ( x ) dx = n 0 R P
2 R P

(3)

Peak concentration

n0 =

0 .4 R P

(4)

Implantation Profile

Boron profiles in -silicon shows that the Gaussian distribution matches very well at low energy level, but not as the energy increases. When light atoms make collisions with target atoms, they experience a significant degree of backscattering. This causes the profiles to be more negatively skewed. Heavy ions such as arsenic do not show negative skewness. More accurate profile can be predicted using simulation tools such as Pearson IV.

2.2 Ion Stopping Mechanisms

Two mechanisms for energy loss of the incident ions : Nuclear stopping and electronic stopping. The total stopping power S of the target, defined as the energy (E) loss per unit path length of the ion (x), is the sum of these two terms :

dE dE S = ( ) nuclear + ( ) electronic (5) dx dx

Nuclear stopping power

1. Due to elastic atomic collision, energy is transferred from the highly energetic incident ions to the target atom, which is recoiled away from the lattice site. creates crystal damage 2. Mechanism is dominant in low energy regime

Electronic stopping power

1. Inelastic collision with electrons in the target, so energy lost mechanism is dissipating through the electron cloud into thermal vibrations of target. creates negligible crystal damage 2. Mechanism is dominant in high energy regime

2.3 Channeling
For ions moving in certain directions of silicon crystal, the silicon atom rows or planes can line up so that there are long-range open spaces through which ions can travel without significant scattering, extending the final ion distribution deeper into the target. Ion A : well aligned with a channel and so suffers only glancing collisions with the walls as it travels far into the lattice. Ion B : scattered into a channel after a short distance, perhaps because of a lattice imperfection Ion C : not channeled and has random collisions with lattice atoms

To minimize channeling, most implantations are preformed tilting the wafer by 7. But still the profile shows significant difference from a Gaussian.

Amorphorization
Heavy dose implantation of heavy ion shows less channeling because of formation of the amorphous layer due to the lattice damage.

2.4 Damage and Annealing

Damage mechanism Defect generation Extended defect (projected-range defect) Self-annealing Furnace Annealing Amorphous layer annealing

Damage Mechanism
Initial ion energy, typically several tens ~ hundreds keV, is much higher than lattice binding energy, 10 ~ 20 eV. So the result of one incident ion has been the displacement of many target atoms through nuclear scattering. Higher dose more damage, The amount of damage depends on the nuclear stopping power. heavier ion produces more damage Since only nuclear scattering gives damages to the lattice, the most severe damage is found at near RP, when ion size is small. In case of As, nuclear stopping is significant at most of practical implantation condition, so the damaged region usually extends to the surface. As the dose increases, disruption of crystalline increases. Further increase of dose eventually causes the implanted crystal region to be amorphous region. There is a critical dose ( Dcrit ) necessary to make a continuous -layer. (depending on ion size, target temperature, Dcrit ~ 2 1014 ions/cm2 )

Defect Generation
When an atom is displaced and travels towards substrate, vacancy remains behind. Thus, where x < RP : vacancy rich region where x > RP : interstitial rich region EOR (End-Of-Range) defect When implantation dose is higher than Dcrit, -layer is formed and at the same time interstitial defects are generated outside the -layer. This excess Si-interstitials form dislocation loops, located just beyond the -c interface in the heavily damaged but still crystalline substrate. They are called EOR defects. EOR defects affect on junction characteristic very significantly if they are present in the depletion region. EOR defects affect the diffusion process. EOR defect is unavoidable once an amorphous layer is formed.

Extended Defect (projected-range defect)

Most noticeable in high dose boron implantation where no amorphous layer is formed. Caused by the formation of precipitates of dopant when solid solubility at the annealing temperature is exceeded. Thus, found near RP.

The defects are in the form of extrinsic dislocation loops extending to the Si surface. Very difficult to remove by annealing since they are very stable at temperatures up to 1050C.

Self-annealing
During ion implantation, the wafer temperature rises up because of the incident ion energy. (e.g., 0.5 mA beam at 150 keV provides 75 W to the wafer, and for a 10 sec implantation the corresponding energy absorbed is 750 J !) In a certain condition, the wafer temperature may rise to several hundred C. This causes self-annealing during implantation. This self-annealing hinders the crystal layer from being -layer, so the Dcrit increases. But too high temperature causes other undesirable phenomena, specially when PR is covered on the wafer. e.g., out-gassing, PR degradation, and so on.

Furnace Annealing
Two major purposes : repairing the lattice damage to minimize junction leakage putting dopants on substitutional sites where they will be electrically active. to maximize electrical conductivity 1) Partially disordered layer annealing Lattice repair occurs by the generation and diffusion of point defects. This process has an activation energy of ~ 5 eV and requires temperature on the order of 900C to remove all defect. Stable extended defects - one important source of junction leakage current, require temperatures up to 1050C to be removed.

Amorphous layer annealing

Regrowth is by solid phase epitaxy mechanism, which requires only 500 ~ 700C. The -c interface moves towards the surface at a fixed velocity that depends on temperature, doping, and so on. The activation energy is ~ 2.3 eV. Thus theoretically it is easier to repair a fully amorphized layer than a partially damaged one. But in actual case, because of existence of EOR, it also needs high temperature anneal when a high quality junction is required. ( EOR does not have a significant affection to the total amount of activated dopant but causes junction leakage. ) Annealing an amorphous layer at high temperatures causes competition between SPE and local diffusive rearrangement that can lead to polysilicon formation. Two step annealing : low temperature SPE (to convert from c) + high temperature annealing (to repair extended defects remaining after SPE) If the surface layer remains crystalline, SPE can occur from both sides toward the middle and leave a string of misfit dislocations at the center.

Optimal Anneal Conditions

Basically high temperature annealing provides better crystal quality. But because of dopant redistribution during annealing, this thermal budget is one of the hottest issues in ULSI fabrication. .

Optimum annealing condition can be determined from R S X J

RS X J :

depends on solubility (or anneal temperature), annealing time, implant dose, and energy

Theoretical sheet resistance versus junction depth relations for various implantation doses. Dashed line is border indicating whether sheet resistivity is limited by dose or solubility.

3. Equipment
3.1 Basic Configuration

1) Source part
Source materials in gas state are used. e.g., BF3, PH3, AsH4, SiCl4 and so on. A heated filament ( in the ion source part ) causes the molecules to break up into charged fragments. e.g., BF3 B++, B+, BF+, F+ and BF2+.

2) Ion extraction and analyzing device

Extraction voltage (15 ~ 40 keV) causes the charged ions to move out of the ion source into the analyser. The extracted ion beam, which is in the state of mixture of different fractions of molecules and atoms, passes through analyzing magnet. By adjusting the magnetic field strength, only the ionic specie of interest will be given the radius of curvature that will allow it to pass through the resolving slit (aperture) and into the acceleration tube.

3) Acceleration tube and Scanning system

Acceleration tube creates the acceleration field to increase the ion energy to the desired energy level. The beam is then scanned over the surface of the wafer using electrostatic deflection plates

4) End station
includes a Faraday cage (a current integrator), electron shower, and subsystem that loads, holds, and positions the target. The base pressure in the machine should be kept below 10-6 Torr to minimize collision of beam ions with residual gas atoms.

3.2 General Issues on Equipment

1) Charging Incident dopant impurities to the wafer are positively charged. Thus if the wafer is not well grounded, charging of the whole wafer can distort the ion beam. Silicon wafers frequently have patterned surface layers of insulators such as silicon dioxide, photoresistor. Thus positive charge accumulation happens even though the wafer is well grounded. causes dielectric breakdown. Solution : electron shower, careful layout.

Uniformity
checked by sheet resistivity mapping across the wafer e.g., when P is implanted with 50 keV, the sheet resistance mapping as a function of dose (a) 5 1013 cm-2 (b) 2 1014 cm-2 (c) 2 1015 cm-2 are

(contour lines mark 1% changes in Rs) This result shows that higher dose has better uniformity. As the dose is increased, lattice damage prevents channeling. To minimize the nonuniformity caused by channeling, tilt and twist should be optimized in a particular process condition. If the charging is severe on the whole wafer, the center of the wafer receives a lower dose than intended. Localized charging also can causes local nonuniformity.

Contamination
Metal contamination Incident beam is basically clean because beam analysis separates contaminant ions from the beam before they hit the target. Contamination is caused near the end of the beam line. Metal atoms knocked from chamber walls, wafer holder and clips, and so on, can be recoiled and implanted into silicon by beam line. Cross contamination After many implants, the internal surfaces of the machine become saturated with dopant. If the source gas is changed, subsequent implants can be cross-contaminated with old source atoms sputtered from the walls. Careful design of machine to minimize beam contact with machine surfaces is necessary. Energy contamination Severer in low energy implantation. Causes unexpected doping profile ( frequently long tail ).

Throughput
Throughput = 3600 batch size implantati on time (sec) + load/unlo ad time (sec)
dose effective implant ar ea cha rg e per ion beam curre nt cos (tilt)

where implantati on time =

Beam current should be larger than 4 mA for throughput above 50 W.P.H.

Beam current [mA]

3.2.3 Ion implanter types

1) Medium current implanter
maximum beam current maximum energy maximum practical dose range application : around 2 mA : ~ 200 keV : 1014 ~ 1015 cm-2 : threshold voltage control

2) High current implanter

maximum beam current energy range application : up to 30 mA : 10 ~ 160 keV : source/drain, gate poly doping

3) High energy implanter

energy range beam current maximum dose application : several tens keV ~ several MeV : lower than MCI : ~ 1014 cm-2 : retrograde well formation, buried layer formation

4) Low energy implanter

To form high quality ultra-shallow junction for the technology with the design rule of 0.20 m and below, 11B+ ion implantation with the energy of lower than 2 keV is required. For mass production, at least 4 mA of boron beam current is required. (then 50 WPH at doping level of 3 1015 cm-2 ) (Usual high current implant has up to ~ 30 mA beam current.) The minimum energy is decided by the extraction voltage, which cannot be reduced too far without drastically reducing beam current. challenging point Two types are being developed. a. drift mode only ( acceleration only ) : difficult to get high current b. drift + deceleration mode : suffer from energy contamination Ref.) A good review paper on ion implantation technology : E. Chason, et al, Ion beams in silicon processing and characterization, Journal of applied physics, Vol. 81, No. 10, 15 May 1997, pp. 6513 6561.