A promising technique to form the silicon-on-nothing structure is presented as an alternative to the silicon-on-insulator structure. A large plate-shaped empty space in silicon (ESS) below the surface of the silicon substrate can be fabricated by connecting the spherical empty spaces, which are formed by surface migration of Si on the patterned Si substrate. The ESS technique has the potential to change the microprocess for the fabrication of large-scale integrated circuits and it can be applied to various manufacturing technologies.

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The micro-structure transformation of silicon (MSTS), which is a transformation technology for patterning silicon surfaces by hydrogen annealing, is presented for the first time. The transformation was controlled by the parameters of annealing pressure as well as annealing time and temperature. Voids of sub-micrometer regime size can be intentionally formed in the silicon substrates by making use of transformation. Electrical characteristics, such as the reliability of the thin dielectrics formed in the deep trenches, were improved with the aid of the MSTS process, due to the flattening of the inside surface of the trenches and the rounding of the corners. The mechanism of the transformation by MSTS was studied by means of molecular dynamics, which clearly shows the migration of silicon atoms on the surface. MSTS is a promising technology for the fabrication of future integrated circuits in silicon.

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It was found that a high concentration of holes was generated without any post-annealing by boron ion implantation into silicon in the high-dose region of more than 1×1016 cm−2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectrum revealed that B12 icosahedra were created just after implantation. The generation of holes can be explained by the model in which B12 icosahedra act as a double acceptor.