JPH0536613A - Semiconductor surface treatment method and equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture semiconductor excellent in characteristics in a short processing time, with a simple equipment, so as to have superior uniformity over a large area, by making dopant elements evaporated by a vacuum evaporation method stick on the semiconductor surface, and projecting light having continuous spectrum from the ultraviolet region to the near infrared region. CONSTITUTION:In a semiconductor surface treatment chamber 101 whose inside pressure is reduced, a dopant source contained in a crucible 110 is heated with a filament 111 and evaporated. The evaporated dopant source sticks on the semiconductor surface of a substrate 106 to be treated. At the same time, said surface is irradiated with light having continuous spectrum from the ultraviolet region to the near infrared region, by a light irradiation means 116. By the contribution of ultraviolet radiation, the semiconductor surface is always in an active state. By the contribution of lights from the visual region to the near infrared region, the semiconductor surface is heated, and the diffusion of dopant elements into the inside of semiconductor is progressed. Hence semiconductor excellent in characteristics can be uniformly manufactured over a large area, in a short time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor surface treatment method and apparatus, and more particularly to a semiconductor doping method and a doping apparatus suitable for mass production of large area semiconductor devices such as high performance solar cells and active matrix circuits of liquid crystal displays. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent trends in semiconductor device technology include a trend toward miniaturization and integration as typified by semiconductor memories and image sensors, as well as an increase in area as typified by active matrix circuits for solar cells and liquid crystal displays. There is. In a large area semiconductor device, it is necessary to reduce the manufacturing cost per unit area as much as possible. Therefore, as a semiconductor material, an amorphous or polycrystalline semiconductor thin film deposited on a low-priced substrate such as glass, metal or ceramics is being used together with a single crystal silicon wafer. However, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the device, cost reduction is also required for each of the other manufacturing processes.
In addition, the manufactured device must have uniform characteristics over a large area of 30 cm square or more. In other words, for large area devices, appropriate process technology must be developed.

Among the various manufacturing processes, the doping technique is the most important technique from the viewpoint of increasing the area.

The most commonly used semiconductor doping technique is the thermal diffusion method. The thermal diffusion method is a technique in which dopant atoms contained in a film coated or deposited on the surface of a semiconductor are diffused into the semiconductor at a high temperature of 1000 ° C. or higher and activated as a dopant. Although this method can be applied to a large-area device relatively easily, the use of high temperature limits the usable substrate when applied to a thin film semiconductor. In addition, the processing takes a long time and the manufacturing throughput is not good.

Another general doping technique is an ion implantation method. In this method, from a beam of dopant atom ions ionized in a vacuum,
After removing impurities by mass spectrometry, it is accelerated by an electric field, implanted into a semiconductor, and annealed at a temperature of usually 800 ° C. or higher to activate the dopant. Although this method provides easy control of the dopant, it also requires scanning the beam over a large area and still has poor manufacturing throughput. In addition, the size of the device becomes large, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

On the other hand, in the case of a thin film semiconductor which is deposited from the vapor phase by a method such as thermal CVD or plasma CVD, a gas containing a dopant is mixed into the vapor phase at the time of depositing the thin film to introduce dopant atoms into the thin film semiconductor. There is a way to do it. This method is relatively easy to increase the area, and the throughput is better than that of the thermal diffusion method or the ion implantation method, but the characteristics of the formed n-type or p-type semiconductor are not always sufficient, and the method is applied to semiconductor devices. There were many inadequate points. A well-known example is that when polycrystal Si is deposited by thermal CVD, if monosilane (SiH ₄ ) as a raw material is mixed with phosphine (PH ₃ ) to make it an n-type, Si crystal grains are particularly high in concentration. Becomes smaller, and the characteristics as n-type Si are inferior to those obtained when the n-type is formed by the thermal diffusion method or the ion implantation method. Further, when amorphous silicon (a-Si) is deposited by the plasma CVD method, if SiH ₄ as a raw material is mixed with diborane (B ₂ H ₆ ) to form a p-type, the optical band gap (Eg) decreases. As a result, the localized level increases and the characteristics as a p-type semiconductor deteriorate.

The reason for this is that when a gas containing a dopant is mixed in the gas phase, it affects the reaction of the gas containing the element (Si, etc.) of the main constituent of the semiconductor, and the precursor ( It is thought to change the precursor of the deposition reaction).

When doping is performed by deposition, it is generally impossible to selectively form an n-type or p-type semiconductor region at a specific place on the substrate. This complicates the process especially in the application to liquid crystal displays. Several proposals have been made from such a viewpoint.

MBSpitzer and SNBunker are p-type single crystal S
In i, a solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 15% having a pn junction was made by ion implantation of phosphorus without mass spectrometry (16th IEEE Photovoltaic Conf. SanDiego,
1982, p711-). H.Itoh et al. Also made a solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 10% without the antireflection layer by the same method (Proc. 3rdPVS
EC in Japan ('82) p.7-). In the ion implantation method without mass spectrometry, the device is relatively simple and the manufacturing throughput is improved. However, it is difficult to process a sufficiently large area for application to solar cells. Further, in their experiments, after implanting ions, annealing is performed at 550 ° C. or 600 ° C. or higher, which not only has low manufacturing throughput, but also has many restrictions on application to thin film semiconductors.

In SD Westbrook et al., A gas containing boron is decomposed by glow discharge, and an electric field is applied to accelerate boron ions and implant them into n-type single crystal Si.
Annealing is performed at 50 ° C or higher to produce solar cells with a conversion efficiency of 19% (Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 50 ('8
7) p.469-). On the other hand, Yoshida, Setoshine, and Hirao use the same device to dope phosphorus into a-Si to make a thin film transistor (TFT) (IEEE Elec. Devic
e Lett. Vol.9 (1988) p.90-). With these methods, it is easy to increase the area and the manufacturing throughput is relatively good. Further, as shown in the latter, p-type or n-type regions can be selectively formed at specific locations on the semiconductor surface. However, since mass spectrometry is not performed, various unnecessary ions other than the dopant ions are also implanted at high speed. Therefore, it is difficult to anneal at a sufficient temperature.
In the case of -Si, damage due to ions is particularly difficult to remove, which has been an obstacle in application to a-Si solar cells. In addition, neutral dopant atoms other than ions cannot be controlled, and these dopant atoms easily diffuse into each part of the device. In particular, an a-Si solar cell usually uses a pin junction, and at least three layers of n-type, i-type, and p-type are used, and a tandem-type a-Si cell in which a plurality of pin junctions are stacked has six layers and nine layers. Become. These dopants are used for adjoining semiconductor layers of different conductivity types (especially i
If it is mixed in the layer), the characteristics of the device are likely to be adversely affected. Above all, in a roll-to-roll apparatus that continuously deposits on a long strip-shaped substrate for the purpose of mass production of an a-Si solar cell, diffusion of a dopant into an adjacent film forming chamber is likely to occur.

In order to mass-produce such a high-performance a-Si solar cell, it was necessary to further improve the doping technique for a large area. Further, in the case of a crystalline semiconductor solar cell or a liquid crystal display, it has been desired to develop a doping technique with a high production throughput.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in manufacturing a semiconductor device, unnecessary diffusion of a dopant is suppressed, a p-type device having a simple device configuration and excellent characteristics is provided. Provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor of n-type or n-type with good uniformity over a large area in a short processing time and an apparatus for carrying out this method, and particularly for a large area such as a high performance solar cell or a liquid crystal display. The purpose of the present invention is to enable low-cost manufacturing of semiconductor devices and to contribute to the spread of these devices.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies to overcome the above-mentioned problems in the conventional semiconductor surface treatment method and apparatus and achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention. By applying the vacuum vapor deposition method, it has been found that large area processing can be easily performed, and the processing equipment and raw material costs are low.

Further, the inventors of the present invention adhere the dopant element evaporated by the vacuum deposition method to the semiconductor surface, and at the same time, irradiate a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared with light, and the semiconductor surface is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Surface energy, activates the dopant element and the semiconductor surface, and further heats the semiconductor surface with light from visible to near-infrared to promote diffusion of the dopant element into the semiconductor, and effective doping of the semiconductor surface. I got the knowledge I could.

The present invention, however, has been completed based on the knowledge obtained by the present inventors and the facts confirmed by the present inventors, and relates to a semiconductor surface treatment method and apparatus.

That is, the semiconductor surface treatment method provided by the present invention comprises:
At the same time as the evaporation source containing the dopant element is evaporated by thermal energy to adhere to the semiconductor surface, the semiconductor surface is irradiated with light having a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared to increase the surface energy of the semiconductor surface by ultraviolet light. ,
It is characterized in that the dopant element and the semiconductor surface are activated, and the semiconductor surface is heated by visible to near-infrared light to promote the diffusion of the dopant into the semiconductor and to dope the impurity.

The semiconductor surface treatment apparatus provided by the present invention comprises a semiconductor surface treatment chamber, a substrate to be treated having a semiconductor surface provided in the treatment chamber, an exhaust means for keeping the treatment chamber under a reduced pressure, An evaporation source containing a dopant element installed in the processing chamber, evaporation source heating means for heating and evaporating the evaporation source, light for irradiating the surface of the substrate to be processed with light having a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared In the semiconductor surface treatment chamber under reduced pressure having an irradiation means, an evaporation source containing a dopant element is evaporated by thermal energy to adhere to the semiconductor surface, and at the same time, the surface energy of the semiconductor surface is increased by ultraviolet light to increase the dopant. By activating the element and the semiconductor surface, the semiconductor surface is heated by visible to near-infrared light, and the diffusion of the dopant element into the semiconductor is promoted. And characterized by performing the processing of the body surface.

In the above method and apparatus provided by the present invention, the substrate to be processed having a semiconductor surface is
Any substrate may be used as long as it has a semiconductor on its surface. For example, a crystalline semiconductor substrate such as a single crystal semiconductor substrate made of silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide or the like or a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate,
Alternatively, an insulating substrate on which an amorphous semiconductor layer such as silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, silicon carbide, or silicon nitride is formed, a semiconductor substrate, a conductive substrate, or the like can be given. The shape of the substrate to be processed is not limited, but examples thereof include a wafer shape, a square shape, a strip shape, and a long shape.

The evaporation source containing the dopant element provided by the present invention may be any as long as it contains the dopant element capable of changing the conductivity of the semiconductor surface of the substrate to be treated, for example, a silicon semiconductor or a germanium semiconductor. Examples of boron include boron, phosphorus, aluminum and antimony.

The evaporation source heating means for applying heat energy to the evaporation source and heating and evaporating it provided by the present invention may be any as long as it can heat the evaporation source in a reduced pressure atmosphere, for example, a filament, a boat, etc. Resistance heating, heating with an electron beam, heating with light such as a laser beam, and the like.

As the light irradiation means usable in the present invention,
It irradiates light having a continuous spectrum of at least 300 nm to 800 nm, and examples thereof include a combination of a xenon lamp, a halogen lamp, a low pressure mercury lamp, a deuterium lamp, and an excimer laser.

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus of the present invention suitable for carrying out the method of the present invention. In the figure, 101
Is a semiconductor surface processing apparatus, and 102 is a processing chamber. The substrate 106 to be processed is fixed to the substrate holder 105, 110 is an alumina crucible for charging an evaporation source, and the crucible 11
A heating filament 111 is wound around 0, and the filament 111 is connected to a filament heating power source 113. The processing chamber 102 can be evacuated from the exhaust port 112 by an exhaust pump (not shown). Light with a continuous spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near infrared is treated in the processing room 1
02 from the light irradiation means 116 provided outside the light introduction window 11
The substrate to be processed 106 is irradiated with the laser beam through the laser beam 5.

In the apparatus shown in the figure, the crucible 11
The dopant source charged in 0 is the filament 111
Is heated and evaporated by. The evaporated dopant source is
It adheres to the semiconductor surface of the substrate 106 to be processed. At the same time, the light irradiation unit 116 irradiates the surface of the substrate 106 to be processed with light having a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared. By this light irradiation, the semiconductor surface is always activated by the contribution of ultraviolet light, and the semiconductor surface is heated by the contribution of visible to near-infrared light to promote the diffusion of the dopant element into the inside of the semiconductor.

[0025]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be further described below with reference to examples of the semiconductor surface treatment method and apparatus of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 In this example, a pin-type a-Si photovoltaic element 308 having a layer structure shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. 3 was produced using the apparatus shown in FIG.

The photovoltaic device comprises a substrate 301, a lower electrode 302, an n-type semiconductor layer 303, an i-type semiconductor layer 304,
p-type semiconductor layer 305, transparent electrode 306, and collector electrode 30
7 is a photovoltaic element 308 in which 7 is deposited and formed in this order.
In this photovoltaic element, it is premised that light is incident from the transparent electrode 306 side.

First, a stainless square substrate (5 cm × 5 c
m) is a commercially available sputtering device (SBH- manufactured by ULVAC, Inc.)
2206DE), using Ag (99.99%) as a target to form an Ag thin film of 0.3 μm, and continuously using ZnO (99.999%) as a target for 1.5.
A ZnO thin film having a thickness of μm was sputter-deposited to form a lower electrode 302.

Subsequently, the substrate on which the lower electrode was formed was put on a commercially available plasma CVD apparatus (CHJ- manufactured by ULVAC, Inc.).
3030). Rough evacuation and high vacuum evacuation were performed with an exhaust pump through the exhaust pipe of the reaction vessel.
At this time, the surface temperature of the substrate was controlled by the temperature control mechanism so as to be 250 ° C.

When the gas has been sufficiently evacuated, SiH ₄ 300sccm, SiF ₄ 4sccm, PH ₃ /
Introducing 55 sccm of H ₂ (1% H ₂ dilution) and 40 sccm of H ₂ , adjusting the opening of the throttle valve to keep the internal pressure of the reaction vessel at 1 Torr, and when the pressure became stable, immediately turn on 200 W of high frequency power. Power was turned on. The plasma lasted for 5 minutes. As a result, an n ⁺ a-Si: H: F film as the n ⁺ semiconductor layer 303 was formed on the lower electrode 302.

After evacuation again, this time, SiH ₄ 300sccm, SiF ₄ 4sccm, H ₂ 40sccm were introduced from the gas introduction pipe.
Was introduced, the opening of the throttle valve was adjusted, the internal pressure of the reaction vessel was maintained at 1 Torr, and when the pressure became stable,
Immediately, 150 W of electric power was applied from the high frequency power source. The plasma lasted for 40 minutes. As a result, the a-Si: H: F film as the i-type semiconductor layer 304 becomes the n-type semiconductor layer 30.
Formed on 3.

Next, the substrate 301 was taken out from the plasma CVD apparatus and set in the semiconductor surface treatment apparatus 101 shown in FIG. Further, the crucible 110 was charged with granular boron (99%).

First, after evacuation to 10 ^-5 Torr or less from the exhaust port 112, a current is passed through the filament 111 to start evaporation of boron, the light irradiation means 116 is turned on, and the surface of the substrate 301 (106) is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Irradiation with light having a continuous spectrum from to near infrared. After 3 minutes, vapor deposition and light irradiation were stopped, the processing chamber 102 was leaked to the atmosphere, and then the substrate was taken out.

Next, the transparent electrode 306 is formed by ordinary vacuum deposition.
(ITO) was formed, and the collector electrode 307 (Al) was further vapor-deposited with a mask to complete the photovoltaic element 308.

Regarding the produced photovoltaic element 308, A
When the characteristics were evaluated under irradiation with M1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light, a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 9.0% was obtained. Further, the rate of change of the photoelectric conversion efficiency with respect to the initial value after continuous irradiation with AM1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light for 500 hours was measured and found to be within 18%.

Example 2 In this example, an a-Si / a-Si tandem photovoltaic element 413 having a layer structure shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. 4 was used by using a roll-to-roll apparatus 242 shown in FIG. It was made.

The photovoltaic element 413 comprises a lower electrode 402 on a substrate 401, an n-type semiconductor layer 403, an i-type semiconductor layer 404, and a p-type semiconductor layer 40 which form a first cell 411.
5, and the n-type semiconductor layer 40 that constitutes the second cell 412
6, a i-type semiconductor layer 407, a p-type semiconductor layer 408, a transparent electrode 409, and a collector electrode 410 are deposited in this order to form a photovoltaic element. In this photovoltaic element, it is premised that light is incident from the transparent electrode 409 side.

The device 242 shown in FIG. 2 is for continuously forming photovoltaic elements on a strip-shaped stainless steel substrate 204. The apparatus shown in the figure has a substrate delivery chamber 203, a first n
Mold chamber 213, first i-type chamber 222, first p-type chamber 227, second n-type chamber (not shown), second i-type chamber (not shown), second p-type chamber (not shown). (Shown) and the substrate winding chamber 239 are arranged in this order. Second n-type chamber, second i
The mold chamber and the second p-type chamber are respectively the first
N-type chamber 213, first i-type chamber 22
2. The structure is exactly the same as that of the first p-type chamber 227. Gas gates 207, 215, 24 between the chambers
It is isolated by 3, 236 (other not shown) to prevent impurities from mixing between the chambers.

In the figure, first, the substrate delivery chamber 203
Is a box on which the strip-shaped substrate 204 is set. During the film formation, the guide roller 2 is fed from the substrate delivery chamber 203.
The substrate 204 is continuously carried out to the reaction chamber via 05. The substrate delivery chamber 203 is evacuated via the exhaust port 202 and the valve 201.

The substrate winding chamber 239 is a box for winding a film-shaped substrate on which a film has been formed. During the film formation, the substrate is continuously transferred from the reaction chamber to the substrate winding chamber 239 via the guide roller 237. Be delivered to. The substrate winding chamber 239 is evacuated through the exhaust port 240 and the valve 241.

The n-type chamber 213 and the i-type chamber 222 are plasma CVD chambers.
A type semiconductor layer and an i type semiconductor layer are deposited. The substrate is heated in the chamber by the substrate heaters 214 and 223 and controlled to a predetermined substrate temperature. The raw material gas is supplied from the raw material gas supply pipes 210 and 218, decomposed by plasma generated between the cathodes 211 and 220 and the substrate to form a semiconductor film on the substrate, and further exhausted from the exhaust ports 209 and 219.

The p-type chamber 227 is the semiconductor surface treatment apparatus of the present invention using the method of the present invention. The substrate board pressure
The heater 228 controls the temperature to a predetermined temperature . The inside of the chamber is evacuated from the exhaust port 244. A p-type dopant such as boron is charged in the crucible 232, and is heated and evaporated by passing a current from the evaporation source heating power source 233 to the filament. Light having a continuous spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near infrared is emitted from the light source 246 and is applied to the surface of the substrate through the light introduction window 245. The evaporated p-type dopant element adheres to the substrate surface, and the substrate surface is heated to diffuse the p-type dopant on the i-type semiconductor surface, forming a p-type layer.

Gas gates 207, 215, 243, 23
In FIG. 6 (other not shown), a sweep gas such as Ar or hydrogen is used to isolate the gas between the chambers.
08,216,217,224,225,235,23
4 (other not shown).

A photovoltaic element 413 was produced by using such a roll-to-roll apparatus.

First, the stainless steel strip substrate 204 is set in a continuous sputtering device (not shown), and Al--Si (5
% Si) as a target and 0.2 μm of Al-
A lower electrode 402 was formed by continuously depositing a 0.1 μm thick SnO ₂ thin film by sputtering using a Si thin film and SnO ₂ (99.99%) as a target.

Subsequently, the strip substrate on which the lower electrode 402 was formed was set in the roll-to-roll apparatus shown in FIG. After that, an evacuation pump (not shown) evacuated through the exhaust pipe of each chamber. This time,
The surface temperature of the substrate was controlled by the temperature control mechanism so as to be 250 ° C.

When the gas has been sufficiently exhausted, SiH ₄ / PH ₃ / H ₂ is supplied to the first and second n-type chambers through the gas inlet pipes 210 and 218, and the first and second i-type chambers are supplied. SiH ₄ / SiF ₄ / H ₂ was introduced into the chamber, Ar gas was introduced into the gas gate, and the internal pressure of the n-type and i-type chambers was adjusted to 5
The pressure of the p-type chamber was maintained at 0 mTorr, and the pressure of the p-type chamber was maintained at 1 mTorr.

When the pressure is stable, power is supplied from each high-frequency power source to generate plasma in each chamber, and the evaporation source heating device and the light source are also powered on. Transport speed 20 cm / m
Use in to convey from the left side to the right side in the figure, and
The i, p / n, i, p-type semiconductor layers were laminated.

A semiconductor layer was laminated and formed over the entire length of the belt-shaped substrate, cooled, taken out, and further, a solar cell module of 35 cm × 70 cm was continuously produced by a continuous modularizing device (not shown).

Regarding the manufactured solar cell module, A
When the characteristics were evaluated under irradiation with M1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light, the photoelectric conversion efficiency was 7.3% or more, and the variation in characteristics between modules was within 9%.

In addition, 5 of AM1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light is used.
The rate of change of the photoelectric conversion efficiency with respect to the initial value after continuous irradiation for 00 hours was measured and found to be within 16%.

A power supply system of 1 kW could be produced by connecting these modules.

Example 3 In this example, the roll-to-roll type a-Si / a-Si tandem photovoltaic device having the layer structure shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. The device 242 was manufactured by using a partially modified device (not shown). The difference from the apparatus of FIG. 2 is that the semiconductor surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, which is the same as the first or second p-type chamber, is used for the second n-type chamber. Granular boron (99%) was charged as an evaporation source in the first and second p-type chambers, and granular phosphorus (99%) was charged in the second n-type chamber.

A photovoltaic element 413 was produced using such a roll-to-roll apparatus.

First, as in Example 2, the stainless steel strip-shaped substrate was set in the continuous sputtering apparatus, and Al--Si (5
% Si) as a target and 0.5 μm of Al-
A lower electrode 402 was formed by continuously depositing a Si thin film and a ZnO thin film of 0.5 μm by sputtering using ZnO (99.99%) as a target.

Subsequently, the strip substrate having the lower electrode 402 formed thereon was set in a roll-to-roll device. After that, an evacuation pump evacuated through the exhaust pipe of each chamber. At this time, the surface temperature of the substrate is 25
The temperature was controlled by a temperature control mechanism so that the temperature became 0 ° C.

When the gas has been sufficiently exhausted, SiH ₄ / PH ₃ / H is introduced into the first n-type chamber through the gas inlet pipe.
₂ and SiH ₄ / Si in the first and second i-type chambers.
Introducing F ₄ / H ₂ and Ar gas into the gas gate, adjusting the opening of the throttle valve to adjust the first n-type and the first and second
The internal pressure of the i-type chamber was maintained at 50 mTorr. The pressures of the second n-type chamber and the first and second p-type chambers were kept at 1 mTorr.

When the pressure is stable, power is supplied from each high-frequency power source to generate plasma in each chamber, and the evaporation source heating device and the light source are also powered on. Transport speed 20 cm / m
The substrate was conveyed in, and n, i, p / n, i, p-type semiconductor layers were successively laminated.

A semiconductor layer was laminated on the entire length of the strip-shaped substrate, cooled, taken out, and further, a solar cell module of 30 cm × 120 cm was continuously produced by a continuous modularizing device. About the manufactured solar cell module, AM1.5
When the characteristics were evaluated under irradiation with (100 mW / cm ² ) light, the photoelectric conversion efficiency was 7.9% or more, and the variation in characteristics between the modules was within 9%.

In addition, 5 of AM1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light is used.
When the rate of change of the photoelectric conversion efficiency with respect to the initial value after continuous irradiation for 00 hours was measured, it was within 15%.

Example 4 In this example, a roll-to-roll apparatus 242 shown in FIG. 2 was used as the triple-type a-SiC / a-Si / a-SiGe photovoltaic element having the layer structure shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. Was manufactured by using an apparatus (not shown) which was partially modified. The apparatus used in this example is similar to the apparatus used in Example 2 except that the third n
Type, i-type and p-type chambers are added, only the first, second and third p-type chambers are semiconductor surface treatment chambers of the present invention, and the other chambers are plasma CVD chambers.

The photovoltaic element shown in FIG. 5 has a lower electrode 502 on a substrate 501, an n-type semiconductor layer 503, an i-type semiconductor layer 504, and a p-type semiconductor layer 50 which form a first cell 514.
5, and the n-type semiconductor layer 50 that constitutes the second cell 515.
6, the i-type semiconductor layer 507, the p-type semiconductor layer 508, and the n-type semiconductor layer 509, the i-type semiconductor layer 510, the p-type semiconductor layer 511, and the transparent electrode 51 that form the third cell 516.
2 and a collector electrode 513 are deposited in this order to form a photovoltaic element 517. In this photovoltaic element, it is premised that light is incident from the transparent electrode 512 side.

A photovoltaic element 517 was produced using such a roll-to-roll apparatus.

First, as in Example 2, the stainless steel strip substrate was set in the continuous sputtering apparatus, and Al (99.9%) was set.
Was used as a target to form a 0.3 μm Al thin film, and ZnO (99.99%) was used as a target to form a 0.3 μm ZnO thin film by sputtering to form a lower electrode 502.

Subsequently, the strip substrate on which the lower electrode 502 was formed was set in a roll-to-roll device. After that, an evacuation pump evacuated through the exhaust pipe of each chamber. At this time, the surface temperature of the substrate is 25
The temperature was controlled by a temperature control mechanism so that the temperature became 0 ° C.

When the gas has been sufficiently evacuated, SiH ₄ / PH ₃ / H is introduced into each n-type chamber through the gas introduction pipe.
₂ in the first i-type chamber is SiH ₄ / GeH ₄ / H ₂
In the second i-type chamber, SiH ₄ / SiF ₄ / H ₂
In the third i-type chamber is SiH ₄ / CH ₄ / H
₂ , and Ar gas was introduced into the gas gate, the opening of the throttle valve was adjusted, and the pressure of each n-type and i-type chamber was maintained at 50 mTorr. The pressure in each p-type chamber was maintained at 1 mTorr.

When the pressure is stable, power is supplied from each high-frequency power source to generate plasma in each chamber, and the evaporation source heating device and the light source are also powered on. Transport speed 30cm / m
Transported in in and continuously, n, i, p / n, i, p /
The n, i, and p type semiconductor layers were laminated.

A semiconductor layer was laminated over the entire length of the belt-shaped substrate, cooled, taken out, and further, a solar cell module of 30 cm × 120 cm was continuously produced by a continuous modularizing device. About the manufactured solar cell module, AM1.5
When the characteristics were evaluated under irradiation with (100 mW / cm ² ) light, the photoelectric conversion efficiency was 9.1% or more, and the variation in characteristics between modules was within 7%.

Also, 5 of AM1.5 (100 mW / cm ² ) light is used.
The rate of change in photoelectric conversion efficiency from the initial value after continuous irradiation for 00 hours was measured and found to be within 9%.

A power supply system of 5 kW could be produced by connecting these modules.

Example 5 In this example, polycrystalline Si having the structure shown in FIG. 6 was used.
The solar cell will be described. Wacker surface-polished 6-inch diameter n-type polycrystalline Si wafer (resistivity 2
ohm-cm) was prepared as a substrate. After removing the natural oxide film with hydrofluoric acid, this substrate was set in the apparatus of FIG. 1 so that the polishing surface was face up. Granular Ga having a purity of 99.9% was charged into the crucible 110 as an evaporation source. As the doping conditions, a pressure of 10 ⁻⁵ Torr, a substrate temperature of 100 ° C., irradiation of light from a light source and evaporation were continued for 150 seconds to form a p-type region 602. Next, the n ⁺ type region 603 was formed under the same doping conditions except that the evaporation source was replaced with granular Sb having a purity of 99.9% and the substrate was set upside down. This n ⁺ region 603 forms a so-called back surface field, prevents recombination of carriers in the vicinity of the electrode, and further improves ohmic properties. Then T on both sides
Electrodes 604 and 605 made of laminated layers of i, Pd and Ag were formed by an electron beam evaporation method. The electrodes on the surface were masked so as not to hinder the incidence of light so much that they had a grid shape. After forming the electrodes, sintering was performed at 400 ° C. for 2 minutes. Then, ZnS and MgF ₂ were laminated on the surface to form an antireflection layer 606.

When this sample was cut into 2 cm square pieces and the solar cell characteristics were evaluated, η was 15.0 ± 0.5%, indicating extremely excellent characteristics and uniformity.

Example 6 This example shows an a-Si TFT whose sectional structure is shown in FIG.
Is an example of. Corning # 7059 glass substrate 701
Then, Cr was vapor-deposited thereon, and a gate electrode 702 was formed by a photolithography process. Next, an amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN) film 703 having a thickness of 3000 Å was deposited using SiH ₄ and ammonia (NH ₃ ) as source gases by a commercially available capacitively coupled high frequency glow discharge device. An i-type a-Si layer 704 having a thickness of 2000 Å was deposited on this using the same apparatus. A 3000 Å-thick a-SiN layer was again deposited on this by the same apparatus, and the channel portion 70 was formed.
Etching was carried out in the photolithography process, leaving the number 5 left. After that, the sample was set in the semiconductor surface treatment apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, granular phosphorus having a purity of 99% was used as an evaporation source, the doping conditions were a pressure of 10 ⁻⁵ Torr, a substrate temperature of 80 ° C., and light irradiation and Continue evaporation for 200 seconds n ⁺
A mold region 706 was formed. Where a-S of the channel section
Since iN705 is an insulator, a low resistance region cannot be formed on the surface by doping. Then, Al was vapor-deposited to a thickness of 2000 Å on this, and the channel portion was etched by a photolithography process to form a TFT as a source portion 707 and a drain portion 708. The channel length here is 10 μm.

Conductors were fixed to the gate, source and drain of the TFT thus manufactured, and the transistor characteristics were evaluated over a range of 20 cm square. ON / OFF of gate voltage 15V and 0V when drain voltage is 15V
The ratio was 1.8 × 10 ⁵ times ± 12%, which was excellent.
In the method of the present invention, the channel portion is protected by a-SiN and is not subjected to a treatment such as etching, so that it is considered that the ON / OFF ratio is large and the uniformity is excellent. Therefore, the TFT according to the method of the present invention is suitable for use in an active matrix circuit of a large liquid crystal display.

[0075]

As described above, since the method and apparatus according to the present invention apply vacuum deposition, p-type or n-type semiconductors having excellent characteristics can be spread over a large area in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. It can be manufactured with good uniformity and in a short processing time. In particular, it enables low-cost manufacturing of large-area semiconductor devices such as high-performance solar cells and liquid crystal displays.

Further, since it is easy to increase the area, it can be applied to a roll-to-roll apparatus having high mass productivity, and it is possible to significantly increase the throughput and reduce the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor surface treatment apparatus of the present invention using the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an example of incorporating the device of the present invention into a roll-to-roll device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pin type a-Si photovoltaic element manufactured by using the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an a-Si / a-Si tandem photovoltaic element manufactured by using the present invention.

FIG. 5: a-SiC / a-Si produced by using the present invention
3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a / a-SiGe triple photovoltaic element.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic element manufactured by using the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of an a-Si TFT manufactured by using the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Semiconductor surface treatment equipment 102 processing chamber 103 high frequency power supply 104 Insulator 105 Substrate holder 106 substrate to be processed 110 crucible 111 filament 112 exhaust port 113 Power source for evaporation source heating 115 Light introduction window 116 light source

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H01L 29/784 31/04 7376-4M H01L 31/04 A

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a semiconductor surface treatment chamber under reduced pressure, an evaporation source containing a dopant element is evaporated by thermal energy to be attached to a semiconductor surface, and at the same time, a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared is formed on the semiconductor surface. The surface energy of the semiconductor surface is increased by ultraviolet light, the dopant element and the semiconductor surface are activated, and the semiconductor surface is heated by visible to near infrared light.
A method for treating a surface of a semiconductor, which comprises doping an impurity by promoting diffusion of a dopant into a semiconductor. 2. A semiconductor surface treatment chamber, a substrate to be treated having a semiconductor surface provided in the treatment chamber, an exhaust unit for keeping the treatment chamber under a reduced pressure, and a dopant element installed in the treatment chamber. An evaporation source, an evaporation source heating means for heating and evaporating the evaporation source, and a light irradiation means for irradiating the surface of the substrate to be processed with light having a continuous spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared, were decompressed. In the semiconductor surface treatment chamber, the evaporation source containing the dopant element is evaporated by thermal energy to adhere to the semiconductor surface, and at the same time, the surface energy of the semiconductor surface is increased by the ultraviolet light to activate the dopant element and the semiconductor surface, and to be visible. The semiconductor surface is characterized by heating the surface of the semiconductor with near-infrared light to accelerate the diffusion of the dopant element into the semiconductor and treat the surface of the semiconductor. Surface treatment equipment.