Silicon dioxide doped

The uses of CVD silicon dioxide films are numerous and include insulation between conductive layers, diffusion masks, and ion-implantation masks for the diffusion of doped oxides, passivation against abrasion, scratches, and the penetration of impurities and moisture. Indeed, Si02 has been called the pivotal material of IC s.1 1 Several CVD reactions are presently used in the production of Si02 films, each having somewhat different characteristics. These reactions are described in Ch. 11. 

CVD, the other major deposition process, is used on a large scale. A typical low-E glass is obtained by depositing a thin film of silicon dioxide followed by another thin film of fluorine-doped tin oxide. The Si02 acts as a diffusion barrier and the Sn02 reduces the emissivity. A typical CVD apparatus is shown in Fig. 

Figure 4.2 Schematic diagram of a charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging sensor. It consists of a semiconducting substrate (silicon), topped by a conducting material (doped polysilicon), separated by an insulating layer of silicon dioxide. By applying charge to the polysilicon electrodes, a localized potential well is formed, which traps the charge created by the incident light as it enters the silicon substrate.

Figure 4.22 Schematic diagram of a field effect transistor. The silicon-silicon dioxide system exhibits good semiconductor characteristics for use in FETs. The free charge carrier concentration, and hence the conductivity, of silicon can be increased by doping with impurities such as boron. This results in p-type silicon, the p describing the presence of excess positive mobile charges present. Silicon can also be doped with other impurities to form n-type silicon with an excess of negative mobile charges.

Silicon Dioxide. Si02 layers produced by PECVD are useful for intermetal dielectric layers and mechanical or chemical protection and as diffusion masks and gate oxides on compound-semiconductor devices. The films are generally formed by the plasma-enhanced reaction of SiH4 at 200-300 °C with nitrous oxide (N20), but CO, C02, or 02 have also been used (238-241). Other silicon sources including tetramethoxysilane, methyl dimethoxysilane, and tetramethylsilane have also been investigated (202). Diborane or phosphine can be added to the deposition atmosphere to form doped oxide layers. 

Silicon dioxide films have been an essential factor in the manufacture of integrated circuits from the earliest days of the industry. They have been used as a final passivation film to protect against scratches and to getter mobile ion impurities (when doped with phosphorus). Another application has been as an interlayer dielectric between the gate polysilicon and the aluminum metal-ization. Initially, most such films were deposited in atmospheric pressure systems. In recent years, low pressure processes have assumed greater importance. We will begin by examining the atmospheric process. 

There are two aspects of tungsten CVD for integrated circuits that have taken on commercial importance. One is the blanket deposition and subsequent patterning, so it can be used as a conductor to replace high-resistivity doped poly. The second area of interest is the "selective" CVD of tungsten, where deposition occurs on silicon but not on silicon dioxide. Here one can selectively fill via holes to either provide a thin barrier metal or to deposit a thicker layer to help planarize the circuit. Both applications involve only one processing step, and are attractive for this reason. 

PECVD of silicon nitride has been of commercial importance since 1976.1 The original motivation was to find a final passivation layer for an integrated circuit that would replace the doped silicon dioxide films then in use. The latter were not reliable enough to permit packaging of integrated circuits in plastic. Silicon nitride was recognized as a better final passivation film, but the only available technique for its deposition was the high-temperature thermal process. Since it had to cover an aluminum final metallization layer that would melt at 600°C, this clearly could not work. The solution was to use PECVD at 350° to 400°C. 

Earlier, we reviewed silicon dioxide (thermal) films deposited with added phosphorus to serve as a getter for mobile ion impurities, as a final passivation film. Plasma-enhanced silicon nitride can also be doped with phosphorus.6 Some of the film characteristics have been reviewed, and it was found that the films with 2 to 3% P had the best electrical quality. No measurements of stress or H2 content were reported, so it is not clear that these would be use-able films. 

Transparent, conducting, tin oxide coatings are used in applications where light must pass through the substrate in order to strike the active element such as a photoconductive or photoelectric material. Chemically deposited films of silicon dioxide serve as masks on semiconductor materials for selective doping in the preparation of integrated circuits that can later be removed by chemical etching. 

Layers Typical materials for which CMP processes originally have been developed for microelectronic applications include various types of silicon dioxide such as thermal oxide, TEOS, HDP, BPSG, and other B- or P-doped oxide films. These films are used for various isolation purposes including interlevel dielectric (ILD), intermetal dielectric (IMD), or shallow trench isolation (STI). In addition, n- or p-doped poly-Si, which is a semiconducting material used as capacitor electrode material for DRAMS or gate electrode for MOS applications (CMOS as well as power MOS devices), also has to be polished. Metals for which CMP processes have emerged over the last 10-15 years are W for vertical interconnects (vias) and most importantly Cu as a low-resistivity replacement for aluminum interconnects, employed in the damascene or dual-damascene processing scheme. Other metals that are required for future nonvolatile memories are noble metals like Pt or Ir for which CMP processes have been explored. 

Sea sand is primarily comprised of silicon dioxide (silica), which may be converted to elemental silicon (96-99% purity) through reaction with carbon sources such as charcoal and coal (Eq. 2). Use of a slight excess of Si02 prevents silicon carbide (SiC) from forming, which is a stable product at such a high reaction temperature. Scrap iron is often present during this transformation in order to yield silicon-doped steel as a useful by-product. 

Silicon Dioxide Etchiiig Doping by phosphorus Diffusion... 

Test samples were fabricated by Si and Ge monohydrides pyrolysis in the gas mixture at the total pressure of 35-40 Pa with monogerman to monosilane volume ratio of 0.001-0.002. Temperature of the process was not higher than 680°C. P-doped silicon wafers (100) were used as substrates. Before the pyrolysis process we have oxidized the surface of some silicon wafers in dry oxygen in order to form thin silicon dioxide layer. In addition dysprosium and yttrium oxides were also formed on the wafer surface for other samples by the process of their deposition and following oxidation. 

Semiconductor microchip processing often involves chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of thin layers. The material being deposited needs to have certain desirable properties. For instance, to overlay on aluminum or other bases, a phosphorus pentoxide-doped silicon dioxide coating is deposited as passivation (protective) coating, by the simultaneous reactions... 

DCNDBQT organic field effect transistors (OFETs) were fabricated on a highly doped n-Si wafer with 30 nm silicon dioxide. Firstly, the silicon surface was rinsed with Dl-water, acetone and iso-propanol in order to remove small particles and organic impurities. Secondly, the substrate was treated with oxygen plasma and silanised for 26 hours at 60 °C by hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) in order to improve the OFET performance [21]. As source-drain contacts of the bottom contact transistors (BOC) gold was used, which was evaporated through a shadow mask on the silieon dioxide (see Figure 5.2). 

The fabrication process is illustrated in Figure 5.16, the details of which can be found elsewhere.25 As before, a 3-inch n-type doped silicon wafer was used for the fabrication of the cantilever structure. Firstly, a layer of silicon dioxide... 

Lagerlof KPD, Mitchell TE, Heuer AH (1989) Lattice diffusion kinetics in undoped and impurity-doped sapphire (a-Al203) A dislocation loop annealing stndy. J Am Ceram Soc 72 2159-2179 Lamkin, MA, Riley, FL, Fordham RJ (1992) Oxygen mobility in silicon dioxide and silicate glasses A review. J Eur Ceram Soc 10 347-367... 

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