Plasma immersion ion implantation for SOI synthesis: SIMOX and ion-cut

Abstract

We have demonstrated feasibility to form silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates using plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) for both separation by implantation of oxygen and ion-cut. This high throughput technique can substantially lower the high cost of SOI substrates due to the simpler implanter design as well as ease of maintenance. For separation by plasma implantation of oxygen wafers, secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis and cross-sectional transmission electron micrographs show continuous buried oxide formation under a single-crystal silicon overlayer with sharp Si/SiO 2 interfaces after oxygen plasma implantation and high-temperature (1300°C) annealing. Ion-cut SOI wafer fabrication technique is implemented for the first time using PIII. The hydrogen plasma can be optimized so that only one ion species is dominant in concentration and there are minimal effects by other residual ions on the ion-cut process. The physical mechanism of hydrogen induced silicon surface layer cleavage has been investigated. An ideal gas law model of the microcavity internal pressure combined with a two-dimensional finite element fracture mechanics model is used to approximate the fracture driving force which is sufficient to overcome the silicon fracture resistance.

AlGaN Materials Engineering for Integrated Multi-Function Systems

“…They are relatively chemically and physically stable and defect insensitive. These unique properties, and reports that growth of GaN on {111} Si is possible [10][11][12] have motivated us to try to integrate GaN with silicon technologies. However, while growth on {111} Si has been proven, typical CMOS technologies are based on {100} and not {111} silicon.…”

“…As a first step, we have demonstrated the bonding of a thin layer of Si {111} material onto a thin silicon dioxide layer on a Si {100} substrate. This was done using a process developed by the French and often referred to as "Smart-Cut" [10][11][12] in which, in our case, a {111} wafer undergoes a high dose H implant. The dose is sufficiently high to nucleate bubbles at the range of the implant during heating.…”

Semiconductor applications of plasma immersion ion implantation

“…In addition to metallurgical and tribological engineering, engineers and scientists in semiconductor and microelectronics processing have found the technology suitable [3,4]. The most widely studied semiconductor applications of PIII are shallow junction formation by plasma doping (PD) [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], synthesis of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates by either PIII/ion-cut or separation by plasma implantation of oxygen (SPIMOX) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29], conformal trench doping [30], hydrogenation of polysilicon thin films used in flat-panel displays [31], as well as fabrication of thin oxide on SiGe, low dielectric constant (low-k), and III-nitride materials [32][33][34]. In this review paper, recent developments in three of the areas that have seen significant development, PD, SOI formation using direct-current (DC-PIII), and fabrication of blue light emitting nano-cavities using hydrogen PIII are discussed.…”