KR20160009572A - Enriched silicon precursor compositions and apparatus and processes for utilizing same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to isotope-rich silicon precursor compositions useful for enhancing the performance of ion implantation systems in ion implantation as compared to corresponding ion implantation lacking an isotope-rich silicon precursor composition. The silicon dopant composition is characterized in that at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si comprises an isotope-rich one or more silicon compounds in excess of the natural abundance ratio and the supplemental gas comprising at least one of a subsidiary- . ≪ / RTI > Also disclosed is an ion implantation system comprising such a dopant gas supply as well as a dopant gas supply for providing such a silicon dopant composition to an ion implanter.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a silicon-rich precursor composition and an apparatus and a method for using the same. BACKGROUND ART [0002]

The present invention relates to the use of such dopant compositions for achieving improved performance of the silicon dopant composition for ion implantation and improved performance of the ion implantation system, such as increased life of the ion source in an ion implantation system, higher beam current, .

Cross reference to related application

This international patent application is directed to United States Patent Application No. 13 / 898,809, filed May 21, 2013, entitled " Silicon-rich Precursor Composition and Apparatus and Method for Utilizing It, " by James J. Mayer et al. Claim as priority. U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 898,809 discloses a method and apparatus for improving the lifetime and performance of an ion source in an ion implantation system under 35 USC 119, in the name of Robert Kaim et al., February 26, 2010 U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 308,428, filed on even date herewith and 35 USC 119, entitled " Method and Apparatus for Improving the Life and Performance of the Ion Source of the Ion Implantation System ", by Robert Kaim et al. &Quot; Methods and Apparatus for Improving the Life and Performance of an Ion Source of Ion Implantation System "under 35 USC 120, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 390,715, A method and apparatus for improving the lifetime and performance of an ion source in an ion implantation system are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. PCT / US2011 / 026388, filed on Feb. 26, 2011, (U.S. Patent No. 8,237,134 issued August 7, 2012), U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 401,527, filed February 21, 2012 under the name of Robert Kaim, U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 567,571, filed on August 6, 2012, entitled " Method and Apparatus for Improving the Life and Performance of an Ion Source of an Ion Implantation System "under the name of Robert Kaim et al. Quot; Method and Apparatus for Improving the Life and Performance of an Ion Source of an Ion Implantation System "under 35 USC 120, the continuation of U.S. Patent No. 8,399,865, issued March 19, 2013 No. 13 / 840,961, filed May 15, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference. The disclosures of the foregoing applications are each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

Ion implantation, which is practiced in applications such as semiconductor manufacturing and optoelectronic product manufacturing, involves impinging energetic ions of an implant species onto a substrate to incorporate implanted species into a substrate, e.g., a wafer. To produce an ionic implant species, the dopant composition comprising the dopant species is ionized. This ionization is performed by generating an ion beam using an ion source.

The ion beam generated from the ion source is processed by extraction, magnetic filtration, acceleration / deceleration, analyzer magnet machining, collimation, scanning and magnetic calibration to produce a final ion beam impinging on the substrate.

Various types of ion sources have been developed, including induction heated cathode ion sources, Freeman, Bernas, and the like, but regardless of the particular type of ion source used, Continuous operation for extended periods of time without causing "glitching" or other damage or loss that requires maintenance or repair. Thus, ion source life is an important feature of ion implantation systems.

More generally, the ion implantation system is preferably configured and operated to achieve high wafer throughput at low operating costs of the system.

Silicon is a deposition and / or dopant species commonly used in various semiconductor manufacturing operations. For example, silicon tetrafluoride, SiF ₄ , can be used as a precursor material to produce silicon ions used to modify the surface of an integrated circuit. SiF ₄ can be used in a variety of applications, such as pre-amorphization implantation, or can be used to affect the selectivity of metal deposition.

As a result of the demand for long ion source lifetime, high wafer throughput and low operating costs in ion implantation systems, the industry continues to strive to develop efficient precursor compositions that enable such high performance operation.

The present invention relates to silicon dopant compositions for ion implantation and to the use of such dopant compositions to achieve improved performance of the ion implantation system, such as increased lifetime of the ion source in an ion implantation system, higher beam current, .

In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of ion implanting silicon, comprising ionizing a silicon dopant composition to form ionized silicon, and implanting silicon into the substrate by contacting the ionized silicon with the substrate Wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises one or more silicon compounds that are isotopically enriched with at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si in excess of a natural abundance And the silicon dopant composition is composed of silicon tetrafluoride rich in ²⁹ Si, the abundance level is more than 50 atom% and not more than 100 atom%.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a gas storage and dispensing system including (A) a silicon dopant composition comprising a silicon dopant gas in the form of a mixture with a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary- Wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises: a gas storage and spray vessel, wherein at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si comprises at least one isotope-rich gas phase rich in naturally occurring excess; And (B) a first gas storage and injection vessel containing (i) a silicon dopant gas, and (ii) a second gas storage and injection vessel containing a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary- Wherein the at least one of the silicon dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas, if present, comprises at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si isotope- Wherein the dopant gas composition feed is selected from the group consisting of gas supply kits.

A further aspect of the invention relates to an ion implantation system comprising an ion implanter configured in gas-receiving flow communication with the dopant gas composition feeder of the present invention.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a method of enhancing the operation of an ion implantation system, including providing the dopant gas composition feeder of the present invention for use in an ion implantation system.

Other aspects, features and embodiments of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the appended claims.

1 is a schematic diagram of an ion implantation process system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of an ion implantation process system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention.

The singular forms as used herein encompass a plurality of objects, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

The present invention, as variously disclosed herein with respect to the features, aspects and embodiments of the present invention, may be embodied in various specific forms, forms, and implementations as well as some or all of the above- Or may consist essentially of, or consist of, elements and components thereof, which are collectively referred to herein. The present invention is disclosed herein in various embodiments with reference to various features and aspects of the invention. The present invention contemplates that various modifications and combinations of these features, aspects and embodiments are within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is embodied in, consisting of, consisting essentially of, or consisting of any combination and variation of these particular features, aspects and embodiments, or any of the selected (s) thereof.

It should be understood that the compounds, compositions, features, steps and methods of the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to any specific substituents, isotopes, moieties, structures, components, Or < / RTI > limitations.

The present invention relates to silicon dopant compositions for ion implantation and to the use of such dopant compositions to achieve improved performance of ion implantation systems as well as to apparatus and methods for use of such silicon dopant compositions. This improved performance results in increased lifetime of the ion source in the ion implantation system, higher beam current attainment or other performance advantages over the corresponding ion implantation system lacking the isotope-rich dopant gas composition of the present invention .

More specifically, the present invention relates to a silicon dopant composition wherein at least one silicon isotope comprises at least one isotopically-enriched silicon-containing compound with a naturally occurring ratio excess. Silicon contains the following naturally occurring isotopes in atomic percent listed below, where all such isotope percentages are 100 atomic percent total.

The term "isotopically-enriched" or "rich ", as used herein with respect to silicon dopant gas and / or auxiliary gas, is intended to encompass dopant species in such gas (s), naturally occurring isotopic distribution Means that at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si is present higher than the naturally occurring non-formation amount. Therefore, the term "isotopically-enriched" is understood to refer to an increased concentration (relative to the naturally occurring non-level) of the particular isotope species being considered. The term "homoisotopic " in the context of a particular silicon isotope species means that the gas or composition contains 100 atomic% of such a particular silicon isotope.

In the silicon dopant compositions of the present invention, the at least one naturally occurring silicon isotope is present in the composition at a level that exceeds its natural rate. Many variations are possible. For example, the dopant composition may contain all three naturally occurring isotopes, wherein one or both of these isotopes are present at levels that exceed the spontaneous rate. Alternatively, the dopant composition may contain only one of these isotopes in a 100% ratio. Alternatively, the dopant composition may contain two of these isotopes, at least one of which exceeds the naturally occurring ratio.

The silicon dopant composition of the present invention may be provided in a gas supply package comprising a gas supply container (s) containing a silicon dopant composition. To this end, the silicon dopant composition can be supplied in a single vessel containing a silicon dopant gas, optionally in the form of a mixture with a supplemental gas, or the silicon dopant composition can be supplied in a single vessel containing a silicon dopant gas Container, and a supplemental gas (e.g., one such other container contains a subsidiary-species and / or a diluent gas, and another of such containers contains the same or a different gas) Can be provided in multiple vessels to collectively constitute an ion implantation system and a process gas supply. The silicon dopant composition delivery package may include various types of vessels and may include, for example, adsorbent based fluid storage and dispensing vessel (s) and / or pressure-controlled fluid storage and dispensing vessel (s) . ≪ / RTI > A variety of supplemental gas species can be used in the silicon dopant compositions of the present invention.

The isotopically-enriched silicon dopant compositions of the present invention used in ion implantation systems and processes can provide improved performance, such as improved lifetime, improved performance, and the like, as compared to corresponding ion implantation systems and processes that do not use such isotope-rich silicon dopant compositions. A higher beam current, a lower gas flow rate, and the like.

The term " dopant gas "as used herein refers to a dopant species that is coordinated or associated with a non-dopant component such as a hydride, halide, organic or other moiety, Indicates a vapor phase material. Examples of silicon dopant gases include but are not limited to silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilanes (eg, SiH ₃ CH _{3 ,} SiH ₂ (CH ₃ ) ₂ , SiH (CH ₃ ) ₃ , Si (CH ₃ ) ₄ , SiH ₃ (C ₂ H ₅ ) _{SiH 2 (C 2 H 5)} 2, SiH (C 2 H 5) 3, Si (C 2 H 5) 4, etc.), silane fluoro (e. G., SiHF _3, SiH ₂ F _2, SiH ₃ F), and a chlorosilane (e.g., SiCl _4, SiHCl ₃ , SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , SiH ₃ Cl).

As used herein, the term "supplementary gas" refers to a diluent gas or auxiliary gas.

The diluent gas is effective in a mixture that does not contain a dopant species and is effective in a mixture having a dopant gas so that the diluent gas having the dopant gas with the dopant gas in comparison with the lifetime and performance of the corresponding ion source treating the dopant gas in the absence of the diluent gas, Is a gas that improves the lifetime and performance of an ion source treating the mixture. Exemplary diluent gases include but are not limited to argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germene, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, Rye, diborane, methane, and xenon.

A co-species gas is a gas containing the same dopant species as the dopant gas, wherein the same dopant species is coordinated to a non-dopant component that is different from the non-dopant component of the dopant gas Or association.

For example, the dopant gas may be silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), and the auxiliary gas may be silane, SiH ₄ . In various embodiments of such auxiliary-species compositions, the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas may be isotopically enriched with one or more silicon isotopes in their naturally occurring ratio excess. In another embodiment, the auxiliary-species gas may contain silicon as the spontaneous generation ratio and distribution of its naturally occurring isotopes. In another embodiment, the auxiliary-species gas may be rich in more than one silicon isotope in excess of the naturally occurring ratio, while the dopant gas is the isotope distribution of its silicon content is the naturally occurring ratio.

In various embodiments, the present invention provides a method of ion implanting silicon, comprising ionizing a silicon dopant composition to form ionized silicon, and contacting the ionized silicon with the substrate to implant silicon into the substrate Wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises one or more isotopically enriched silicon compounds of at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si in a naturally occurring ratio excess and wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises ²⁹ When it is made of Si-rich silicon tetrafluoride, the abundance level is more than 50 atomic% and not more than 100 atomic%.

In this way, the silicon dopant composition comprises a supplemental gas comprising at least one of (i) the silicon compound described above in gaseous form as a silicon dopant gas, and (ii) a subsidiary-species gas and a diluent gas.

The method can be performed by the ion implantation of the silicon dopant composition to produce an ion beam of silicon ions and the ion beam is accelerated by an electric field to inject silicon into the substrate by contact operation have. Alternatively, the ionized silicon may be implanted with silicon into the substrate by contacting the substrate with a plasma impregnation process. As described in the above discussion, the silicon dopant composition can include silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, Chlorosilanes, and the like.

In certain embodiments, the method is characterized in that ²⁸ Si is isotopically-enriched in excess of naturally occurring silicon compounds, such as ²⁸ Si using isotopically-enriched silicon tetrafluoride in a concentration range from greater than 92.3 atomic percent to less than 100 atomic percent . In certain embodiments, the silicon tetrafluoride may be a single isotope of ²⁸ Si.

The supplemental gas used in the silicon dopant compositions of the present invention can be of any suitable type and can be any suitable type of gas such as, for example, argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, A diluent gas selected from the group consisting of selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, xenon difluoride, diborane, methane, and xenon.

A wide variety of dopant gas compositions can be used in a wide variety of embodiments of the present invention, including gas compositions selected from the group consisting of:

(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;

(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;

(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;

(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;

(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;

(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;

(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;

(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;

(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;

(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;

(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;

(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;

(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;

(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And

(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon.

The present invention relates to a gas storage and dispensing vessel containing (A) a silicon dopant composition comprising a silicon dopant gas in the form of a mixture with a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary-species gas, The silicon dopant composition comprises a gas storage and spray vessel, wherein at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si comprises isotope-rich one or more gaseous silicon compounds in a naturally occurring ratio excess; And (B) a first gas storage and injection vessel containing (i) a silicon dopant gas, and (ii) a second gas storage and injection vessel containing a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary- Wherein the at least one of the silicon dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas, if present, comprises at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si isotope- Wherein the dopant gas composition feed is selected from the group consisting of gas supply kits.

Wherein the dopant gas composition feeder is selected from the group consisting of silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, and chlorosilane Based on the total weight of the composition. In certain embodiments, the silicon compounds, ²⁸ Si isotope with naturally occurring non-excess-rich silicon compound, such as ²⁸ Si is 92.3 at% is more than 100 atom% concentration range isotopically the following - a rich tetrafluoride silicon . The silicon tetrafluoride may be a single isotope of ²⁸ Si in a particular injection of the dopant gas composition feeder.

In various embodiments, the dopant gas composition feeder may be an argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, And a supplemental gas comprising a diluent gas selected from the group consisting of xenon difluoride, diborane, methane, and xenon. In certain applications, the dopant gas composition feeder may be configured to provide a dopant gas composition comprising a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:

(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;

(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;

(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;

(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;

(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;

(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;

(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;

(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;

(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;

(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;

(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;

(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;

(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;

(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And

(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to an ion implantation system comprising an ion implanter configured in a gas-receiving flow communication with a dopant gas composition feeder variant described above. In the ion implantation system, the ion implanter may include: (A) ionizing the silicon dopant composition from the dopant gas composition feeder to form ionized silicon, contacting the substrate with the ionized silicon, and;

(B) applying an ion beam to the substrate by (i) generating an ion beam of the ionized silicon and accelerating the ion beam with respect to the substrate by an electric field to inject silicon into the substrate, or (ii) Impregnation < / RTI > process.

The present invention also contemplates a method of enhancing the operation of an ion implantation system, including providing for a dopant gas composition feeder as described above for use in an ion implantation system. This method can be performed in various ways. For example, the dopant gas composition feeder can be a gas comprising a group consisting of silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, ≪ / RTI > Silicon compounds in certain embodiments are, ²⁸ Si is 92.3 at% is more than 100 atom% isotope to the amount of naturally occurring non exceeds a concentration range of below-rich four silicon fluoride (SiF _4), for example, ²⁸ Si the unique isotope adult And may include silicon tetrafluoride. Wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germene, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, xenon difluoride, ≪ / RTI > and xenon may be used.

In certain embodiments, the process can be carried out using a dopant gas composition comprising a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:

(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;

(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;

(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;

(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;

(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;

(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;

(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;

(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;

(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;

(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;

(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;

(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;

(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;

(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And

(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to an ion implantation process comprising flowing a dopant composition through an ion source for generation of an ionic dopant species for implantation, wherein the dopant composition comprises

(i) isotopically-enriched silicon compounds wherein at least one of the silicon isotopes of mass 28, 29 or 30 is an isotopically-enriched silicon compound in excess of the naturally occurring non-level, wherein the isotope-rich level of the at least one silicon isotope is a mass 28 silicon isotope Is greater than 92.2%, the mass 29 silicon isotope exceeds 4.7%, the mass 30 silicon isotope is greater than 3.1%, provided that the silicon compound is silicon tetrafluoride rich only in the mass 29 silicon isotope, The abundance level is greater than 50% but less than 100%); And

(ii) a dopant gas formulation comprising a silicon dopant gas and a supplemental gas, wherein said supplemental gas comprises at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary-species gas, said dopant gas and, if present, One or more of the gases is isotopically enriched with a naturally occurring excess of one or more silicon isotopes)

≪ / RTI >

In various embodiments, the dopant composition can be selected from the group consisting of isotopically-enriched silicon compounds with at least one naturally occurring non-level excess of silicon isotopes of mass 28, 29 or 30, In the case of silicon tetrafluoride rich in only the mass 29 silicon isotope, the abundance level is more than 50% and not more than 100%.

In another embodiment, the ion implantation process can be carried out using a silicon compound comprising at least one of silicon tetrafluoride and silane. For example, the silicon compound may comprise silicon tetrafluoride, wherein the silicon in the silicon tetrafluoride has an isotope-rich level of greater than 92.2% and not more than 100% of a mass of 28 silicon isotopes; Not less than 50% but not more than 100% isotope-rich levels of mass 29 silicon isotopes; Or greater than 3.1% and not more than 100% isotope-rich levels of mass 30 silicon isotopes.

In another embodiment, the silicon compound comprises isotope-enriched silicon tetrafluoride, wherein not only the mass 29 silicon isotope is enriched, but also at least one of a mass 28 silicon isotope and a mass 30 silicon isotope. In such a composition, it is more than 4.7% that the mass 29 silicon isotope is isotopically abundant, wherein the total atomic percent of all silicon isotopes in the composition is 100 atomic% in total.

In various embodiments where all three naturally occurring silicon isotopes ( ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si) are present, two of these isotopes are present in an excess of naturally occurring excess, and the other is the isotope Of the total number of atoms of all isotopes, because the sum of all the atomic% amounts of all these isotopes must be 100 atomic% in total. In another embodiment, all three naturally occurring silicon isotopes can be present, where only one of these isotopes is present in excess of the naturally occurring non-level, and the other two isotopes are present in less than naturally occurring non- Or one of these other isotopes is naturally occurring, and the remainder of these other isotopes are less than naturally occurring. It will be appreciated that all of these variations are possible.

In addition, the composition of the present invention may employ a single isotopically fired silicon-containing gas, wherein all silicon atoms or substantially all silicon atoms are of a single isotope species ( ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, or ³⁰ Si) It will be recognized. These solely isobaric plastic dopant gases can increase the beam current and achieve significant improvements in performance and operating life of the ion implanter equipment. For example, the use of silicon tetrafluoride, which is a ²⁸ isotopic Si isotope, is about 10% higher than that used in the corresponding ion implantation system of silicon tetrafluoride, which is of a spontaneous generation ratio for constituent isotopes of silicon Beam current increase can be achieved.

As an alternative to achieving improvements in beam current, the use of isotopically-enriched dopant gas compositions in accordance with the present invention can result in reduced isotope-rich silicon material flow rates, thereby improving the source life in the injection system . The actual reduction in flow rate, which is variable between the environment in which the maximum beam current improvement is achieved and the environment in which the maximum flow rate reduction is achieved (at the same beam current current associated with the use of naturally occurring materials in the ion implanter) can be determined for need. The flow-rate reduction versus the specific trade-off in improved lifetime can be easily determined based on the teachings of the present disclosure within the skill of the art to provide the desired performance improvement and economic benefits in a particular ion implantation facility have.

The ion implantation process broadly described above can be performed in another embodiment wherein the silicon dopant composition is selected from the group consisting of a silicon dopant gas and a silicon dopant gas composition comprising a supplemental gas, Wherein at least one of the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas, if present, comprises at least one of a mass of 28, a mass of 29, and a mass of 30 silicon isotopes, It is isotopically enriched in excess. In various embodiments, at least one of the silicon dopant gas and, if present, the silicon auxiliary-species gas is an isotopically-enriched gas having at least one silicon isotope of mass 28, 29, will be. Illustrative examples of such isotopically-enriched silicon compounds are isotopically-enriched silicon compounds having a mass 28 silicon isotope greater than 92.2%; An isotope-rich silicon compound with a mass 29 silicon isotope greater than 4.7%; And isotopically-enriched silicon compounds with greater than 3.1% by mass silicon isotope.

The silicon dopant gas and silicon assist gas may be of any suitable type useful in ion implantation applications. For example, the silicon dopant gas and the silicon assist gas may include SiF ₄ ; SiH ₄ ; And Si ₂ H ₆ ; Methylsilane, for _{example, SiH 3 CH 3, SiH 2} (CH 3) 2, SiH (CH 3) 3, and Si (CH _{3) 4;} Fluorosilanes such as SiHF ₃ , SiH ₂ F ₂ , and SiH ₃ F; And chlorosilanes such as SiHCl ₃ , SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , and SiH ₃ Cl.

In another embodiment, the supplemental gas may be a diluent gas such as argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germane, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, , Oxygen, carbon monoxide, xenon difluoride, diborane, and xenon. Another embodiment may include a supplemental gas comprising an auxiliary-species gas and a diluent gas.

In certain embodiments, the dopant composition is selected from the group consisting of argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, Mass 29, or mass 30, together with a diluent gas comprising at least one diluent gas species selected from the group consisting of zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, zirconium, And may include one or more of silicon tetrafluoride, silane, and disilane which are abundant.

The silicon dopant composition in any embodiment of the method may comprise a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:

(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;

(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;

(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;

(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;

(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;

(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes ;

(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;

(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;

(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;

(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;

(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;

(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;

(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;

(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And

(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon.

In various ion implantation embodiments, the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas flow to the ion source in a mixed state with each other to produce an ionic dopant species for implantation. Another embodiment of the method is performed so that the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas sequentially flow into the ion source to produce an ionic dopant species for implantation.

The present invention also contemplates embodiments in which the isotope-rich silicon dopant gas flows into the ion implanter at the same time as another dopant gas, either as a mixture or as a separate stream supplied separately to the vacuum chamber of the implanter.

 In the ion implantation process, the ion source may include, in one embodiment, sequentially flowing different dopant materials contained in the dopant composition to the ion source; Monitoring cathode bias power during operation of the ion source during sequential flow of the different dopant materials to the ion source; And adjusting the flow rate of one or more of the sequentially supplied dopant compositions in response to the monitored cathode bias power to extend the operating life of the ion source, the cathode, and / or one or more other components of the ion source Step < / RTI >

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of improving the performance and lifetime of an ion source configured to produce an ionic dopant for ion implantation from a dopant feedstock, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > of the < / RTI > ion doping species. In one embodiment of this method, the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas flow into the ion source for generation of the ionic dopant species for implantation in a mixture with each other. In another embodiment of this method, the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas sequentially flow into the ion source for generation of the ionic dopant species for implantation.

A variable ion implantation system is contemplated, comprising a source of ions and a source composition source configured to supply a dopant composition to the source of ions, wherein the source of the dopant composition comprises any of the various dopant compositions described herein . In such an ion implantation system, the dopant composition may comprise dopant gas and auxiliary-species gas, wherein the dopant composition source flows the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas into the ion source in a mixed state with each other To provide a dopant composition. Alternatively, the dopant composition source may be configured to sequentially flow the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas to the ion source to supply the dopant composition thereto.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a dopant feedstock apparatus comprising a vessel having an internal volume and a dopant feedstock in the internal volume, wherein the dopant feedstock comprises any of the dopant compositions .

In another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of increasing at least one of a source lifetime and a turbo pump lifetime in an ion implantation system for implanting silicon ions into a substrate. The method includes ionizing a silicon-containing dopant gas in an ionization chamber of the ion implantation system, wherein the silicon-containing dopant gas comprises a mixture of silicon tetrafluoride and at least one of hydrogen, argon, nitrogen, and helium And wherein the dopant gas is isotopically abundant in one or more of the Si isotope species.

For example, silicon tetrafluoride can be present in such a mixture at a concentration ranging from 5 to 98% by volume based on the total volume of the mixture. In applications where particularly high beam currents are to be achieved, silicon tetrafluoride may be present in the mixture at a concentration ranging from 80 to 98% by volume based on the total volume of the mixture.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of increasing ion source life in an ion implantation system that introduces silicon tetrafluoride and ionizes it at an ion source. The method includes injecting ammonia with the silicon tetrafluoride into the ion source, wherein the silicon tetrafluoride is rich in one or more Si isotope species. In this way, the ammonia and silicon tetrafluoride may be provided in the form of a mixture in a supply vessel which is injected for introducing the mixture into the ion source. Alternatively, in this method, the ammonia and silicon tetrafluoride may be provided in separate supply vessels that are injected to introduce them into the ion source. In another embodiment, the ammonia and silicon tetrafluoride may be mixed with one another in an ion source after introducing them into the ion source. Amines can be used in this way instead of or in addition to ammonia.

Another variation of this method involves introducing xenon into the ion source. The xenon may be introduced in a mixture with ammonia and / or silicon tetrafluoride.

Another variation of this method involves introducing the xenon into an ion source. The xenon may be introduced as a mixture with ammonia and / or silicon tetrafluoride.

The present invention contemplates a variety of silicon dopant gas compositions comprising a silicon dopant gas and a supplemental gas, wherein the supplemental gas comprises at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary-species gas, wherein the silicon dopant gas and, if present, At least one of the at least one silicon isotope of mass 28, 29, or 30 is isotopically enriched with a naturally occurring non-level excess.

The dopant compositions of the present invention are effective in improving the performance of the implantation process relative to the performance of the corresponding process without the use of isotope-rich dopant gas and / or isotopically-enriched supplemental gas. The performance improvement is due to the higher beam currents, relative to the corresponding implantation processes using dopant gas compositions lacking isotope-rich papers in the dopant gas composition, i.e. dopant gas compositions containing naturally occurring isotope species Longer ion source life, longer average time between consecutive maintenance days, reduced deposition of material on the surface in the implanter, or other performance improvement.

In various specific embodiments, the dopant composition, ²⁸ Si-rich in the amount of naturally occurring non-levels than, for example, the concentration of the ²⁸ Si exceeds 92.2%, for example 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97% , 98%, 99%, or 99.9% to 100% of the silicon compound. In certain other embodiments, the dopant composition, ²⁹ Si-rich, for example, greater than the concentration of the ²⁹ Si 4.7% to the amount of naturally occurring non-levels than, for example, 5%, 7%, 10%, 12%, 15% , 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59% At least one silicon compound that is at least 80%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or more than 99.9% and no more than 100%. In another specific embodiment, the dopant composition, ³⁰ Si-rich in the amount of naturally occurring non-levels than, for example, the concentration of the ³⁰ Si exceeds 3.1%, e.g., 3.5%, 4%, 5%, 7%, 10 %, 12%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96% 99%, or more than 99.9% and not more than 100% of the silicon compound.

Accordingly, the present invention broadly contemplates isotopically-enriched silicon dopant gas and / or isotopically-enriched auxiliary-species gases, wherein the advantageous isotope concentration is such that the dopant and / The dopant and / or auxiliary-species gas is increased to such an extent as to improve the performance of the ion implantation system compared to the corresponding system which is not isotope-regulated from the non-concentration level.

In embodiments where the silicon dopant gas composition comprises dopant gas and auxiliary-species gas, such individual gases may be introduced into the ion source in the form of a mixture of each other, or in a forward flow relationship in which the flow lines are separated, May be provided in the ion implantation system, or gases from their respective sources may be provided to flow to the ion implantation system. Alternatively, these individual gases can flow sequentially into their ion implantation system. This sequential operation may be performed in any suitable manner using the same time-based flow of each dopant gas and auxiliary-species gas, or alternatively the individual time-based flows may be different May be adjusted to provide a doped substrate of the desired characteristics.

The substrate to be ion-implanted by ionic species according to the present invention may be of any suitable type.

The substrate may comprise silicon, silicon carbide, gallium nitride, or any other suitable substrate composition. The substrate may comprise a substrate used to fabricate a microelectronic structure, for example, a microelectronic device or a device precursor element.

In another embodiment, the substrate may be injected for the manufacture of a product such as a flat-panel display and a solar panel. The present invention is applicable to ion implantation applications having any suitable feature.

The dopant composition may be provided for use in a storage and dispensing vessel having an internal volume for retaining the dopant composition therein, wherein the dopant composition may be of any suitable type described herein. Such a dopant composition storage and dispensing vessel may be configured to couple with an ion source, for example, by a suitable flow circuit containing appropriate means and control elements for appropriately flowing the dopant composition into the ion source. The storage and dispensing vessel may comprise a vessel containing an adsorbent system containing a solid physical adsorbent in its internal volume, wherein the adsorbent has a sorptive affinity for the dopant composition. This allows the dopant composition to be sorbed on the adsorbent during storage and desorbed from the adsorbent under the spray conditions, allowing the desorbed dopant composition to exit the vessel to flow to the ion implantation system. The physical adsorbents in such vessels may include carbon adsorbents such as those commercially available from ATMI, Inc. (Danbury, Conn., USA) under the trade designation BRIGHTBLACK have. Alternatively, any other solid-state physical adsorbent with an appropriate sorption affinity for the dopant gas, as well as any other storage medium, such as a dopant gas, may be stored internally and dopant gas may be injected under spray conditions Sex liquid can be used. This type of adsorbent-based vessel is commercially available from ATMI Inc. (Danbury, Conn.) Under the trade names SDS and SAGE.

Alternatively, the dopant composition may be provided in an internal pressure-controlled type container containing one or more pressure regulators in the internal volume of the container. Such pressure-regulated vessels are available from ATMI Inc. (Danbury, Conn.) Under the trade designation VAC. Such a pressure-regulated type container further containing an adsorbent in its internal volume is also commercially available under the trade designation VACSorb from ATMI Inc. (Danbury, Connecticut, USA).

As a further alternative, the gas supply vessel may contain a dopant composition in the form of a solid phase dopant source material, for example, which is volatilized by heating the vessel and / or its contents to generate a dopant gas as a vapor or sublimation product . A solid delivery vessel of this type is commercially available from AMI Inc. (Danbury, Conn.) Under the trade designation ProE-vap.

The invention in a further embodiment provides a process for the production of a gas comprising the steps of (i) a first gas storage and dispensing vessel holding a silicon dopant source gas, and (ii) a reservoir gas containing at least one of a diluent gas and a sub- A second gas storage and dispensing vessel, wherein at least one of the dopant gas and the subsidiary-species gas, if present, is selected such that one or more of the silicon isotopes has a naturally occurring non- It is isotopically abundant in excess.

In another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of ion implantation comprising (i) a first gas storage and dispensing vessel containing a silicon dopant source gas, and (ii) at least one of a diluent gas and a secondary gas Wherein the at least one of the silicon dopant gas and the subsidiary-species gas, if present, comprises at least one of a silicon- Isotopic with one or more silicon isotopes in excess of the naturally occurring non-level.

In such gas supply kits and enhancement mode embodiments, the dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas may be both the same single silicon isotope, such as ²⁸ Si, in the supplied dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas compound being the sole isotopes have.

The gas supply kit and the improvement method may use dopant gas and diluent gas in individual vessels, wherein the dopant gas is isotopically rich with at least one naturally occurring silicon isotope. For example, the dopant gas may include a gas phase silicon compound, for example, where ²⁸ Si is a sole isotope. The diluent gas may comprise any suitable gas species or mixture and may be any suitable gas species or mixture including but not limited to argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, , Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, xenon difluoride, diborane, methane, and xenon, or other suitable gases or gases.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an ion implantation process system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

The ion implantation process system 300 includes a storage and injection vessel 302 having an internal volume that holds the silicon dopant gas supplied to the silicon ion implant doping of the substrate 328 in the illustrated ion implantation chamber 301 do. The storage and dispensing vessel may be of the type containing an absorbent medium in which the silicon dopant gas is physically adsorbed for storage of the gas, wherein the gas is desorbed from the absorbent medium for discharge from the vessel under spray conditions . The absorbent medium may comprise a solid carbon adsorbent material.

In FIG. 1, the storage and dispensing vessel 302 includes a tubular vessel wall 304 that encloses an internal volume that holds the dopant gas in an adsorbed, glassy, or liquefied gas state.

The storage and dispensing vessel 302 includes a valve head 308 that is coupled in gas flow communication with a mixing chamber 360 (optional element) through a spray line 372 and then connected to a discharge line 312 . The pressure sensor 310 may be disposed in line 312 with a mass flow controller 314 and other optional monitoring and sensor elements may be coupled to the line and coupled to the line such as an actuator, And can be interfaced with the control means.

The mixing chamber 360 may also be in flow communication with the gas supply line 370 when used and coupled thereto with supplemental gas supply vessels 362 and 364 each of which may be of the same or different type And may be of the same or different type as the container 302 described above. The vessel 362 may contain, for example, a diluent gas, and the vessel 364 may be configured to contain, for example, a subsidiary-species gas, to contain a dopant gas with the diluent gas and / Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > gaseous < / RTI >

The supplemental container 362 is then formed with the main container portion to which the valve head 380, which is coupled with the supplemental container supply line 366, is fixed. In a similar manner, the replenishing vessel 364 is formed with the main vessel portion to which the valve head 382 is fixed. Valve head 382 is coupled to supplemental vessel supply line 368. Feed lines 366 and 368 in this configuration may deliver dilute and / or auxiliary-species gas (s) to mixing chamber 360 to form a dopant gas mixture (s) containing dilute and / or auxiliary- To the ion source of the injector. To this end, the supplemental container supply lines 366 and 368 and the spray line 372 may comprise valves, controllers and / or sensors adapted to manually or automatically regulate the flow or other characteristics of the substance ejected from the container And such valves, controllers, and / or sensors may be coupled to or coupled to the corresponding supply / dispense line in any suitable manner.

Such a valve may then be coupled to a valve actuator that is operatively connected to a central processing unit (CPU). The CPU is coupled in signal communication with the above-mentioned controller and / or sensor and is programmed to control the velocity, condition and amount of fluid ejected from each of the vessels with each other, and the flow from the mixing chamber 360 in line 312 The dopant gas mixture has compositions, temperatures, pressures, and flow rates that are desirable for performing ion implantation operations.

In the illustrated system 300, the ion implantation chamber 301 contains an ion source 316 that receives a silicon dopant gas mixture injected from line 312 and generates an ion beam 305. The ion beam 305 passes through a mass analyzer unit 322 which selects the required ions and rejects the non-selected ions.

The selected ions pass through the deflection electrode 326 after passing through the accelerating electrode array 324. The resulting focused ion beam impinges on the substrate element 328 disposed on the rotatable holder 330 mounted on the spindle 332. A desired substrate is doped using an ion beam of a dopant ion to form a doped structure.

The individual areas of the ion implantation chamber 301 are exhausted via lines 318, 340 and 344 by pumps 320, 342 and 346, respectively.

Alternatively, the ion implantation chamber 301 may be a plasma impregnated chamber adapted to perform silicon implantation at the substrate by a suitable impregnation process.

2 is a schematic diagram of an ion implantation process system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention. Although the system of FIG. 2 is numbered according to the same components and features as FIG. 1, the system of FIG. 2 uses a separate dopant gas and supplemental gas vessel in a flow circuit configuration, wherein the vessels 304, 362, and 364 Has mass flow controllers (314, 400 and 402) independent of its injection line. With this arrangement, the gas flow from each vessel is regulated by a dedicated mass flow controller at the associated injection line to achieve a selected flow rate or flow rate ratio of each gas in operation. Each mass flow controller can be operated in conjunction with a central processing unit (CPU), which can adjust each mass flow controller as necessary or as desired during operation to optimize the system.

In another embodiment of the invention, the dopant gas may be supplied, for example, as a mixture containing one or more supplemental gas (s), dilution and / or auxiliary-species gas, wherein the concentration of the dopant gas and the supplemental gas The mixture is contained in a single supply vessel from which the gas mixture can be injected and flowed into the ion source of the ion implantation system. For example, in the system of FIG. 1, the vessel 302 may constitute a single gas supply vessel (no supplemental vessels 362 and 364) containing a silicon dopant gas and a supplemental gas mixture.

This approach can be used to provide silicon tetrafluoride as a dopant gas in a mixture comprising hydrogen, inert gas or other diluent gas as a co-packaged mixture that may be provided from a single supply vessel.

As a specific example of an isotopically-enriched silicon tetrafluoride gas mixture that can be advantageously used in the broad practice of the present invention provided in a single supply vessel, the silicon tetrafluoride-containing gas composition comprises from 5 to 35 By volume Si of silicon tetrafluoride, and the remainder of at least one of hydrogen, argon, nitrogen, and helium, wherein the silicon tetrafluoride is one or more of the naturally occurring silicon isotopes such as ²⁸ Si isotope- Abundant.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to increasing the source lifetime of an ion implantation system using ammonia as a silicon tetrafluoride and a co-flow gas, wherein silicon tetrafluoride is used as a dopant gas, Silicon is isotopically enriched with one or more Si isotopes, such as ²⁸ Si.

By using ammonia as a supplemental gas in the form of a mixture with silicon tetrafluoride when injecting silicon, the nitrogen and hydrogen components of ammonia (NH ₃ ) will effectively remove fluorine from silicon tetrafluoride. As a result of this fluorine removal, the SiF ₄ / NH ₃ mixture can be removed by a source of ions which causes poor source life due to the tungsten whiskers and / or cathodes growing on the arc slits and / Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > at least < / RTI >

The use of SiF ₄ and ammonia as a forward flow gas can be performed in any of a variety of configurations. In one embodiment, a separate gas supply vessel for ammonia and silicon tetrafluoride is used, and the gases from each gas supply vessel flow in a forward direction to the ion source. The gases flowing in the forward direction can be mixed before passing through the mass flow controller, mixed between the mass controller and the ion source, or mixed in the ion source.

Alternatively, a single supply vessel may be provided containing a mixture of ammonia and silicon tetrafluoride in any suitable relative proportions.

Instead of ammonia or in addition to ammonia, any suitable amine can likewise be used for this advantage.

As another alternative, the xenon may be provided as a supplemental gas in a separate supply vessel. After being jetted from the supply vessel, the xenon may be mixed with ammonia and / or silicon tetrafluoride. The xenon may also be provided as a supplemental gas in a gas vessel containing xenon mixed with ammonia and / or silicon tetrafluoride. The presence of xenon in the gas introduced into the ion source improves the life of the source by the sputtering effect on the cathode of the xenon to remove any excess tungsten deposited on the cathode.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of forming an ionic dopant species by flowing one or more isotopically-enriched silicon dopant materials, such as silane or silicon tetrafluoride, into an ionization chamber to produce an ionic dopant species, Extracting the selected ionic dopant species, selecting a predetermined ionic dopant species, and injecting the selected / desired silicon ionic dopant species into a photoelectric, planar-panel, microelectronic or semiconductor substrate, Or an improved ion implantation method comprising the same.

The abundance of the desired silicon isotope in accordance with the present invention is provided to increase the abundance or concentration of the isotope and thereby increase the amount of isotope in the ion beam. This in turn provides a corresponding advantage in throughput over systems and / or processes that use a silicon source containing a lower concentration / amount of the same / desired silicon isotope.

The present invention contemplates a sequential flow of dopant materials, wherein the cathode bias power is monitored during operation of the ion source, and the monitored cathode bias source power is determined, for example, during operation of the ion source by a predetermined cathode bias Control / select / alternate between each dopant compound delivered to the ion source by maintaining power to extend the operating life of the ion source or components thereof. This method can be used to repair or calibrate the cathode of the ion source to the extent necessary to maintain or otherwise achieve a predetermined cathode bias power during operation of the ion source, i. E., Regrowth or etch the cathode.

The ion source may be of any suitable type in the monitored and controlled process, such as an indirect high temperature cathode (IHC) ion source. In this way, the cathode bias power is advantageously used as a feedback mechanism to control the sequential flow of the different dopant compounds, thereby extending the operating life of the ion source / cathode.

A method of operating such an ion implantation system comprising a cathode in an arc chamber of an ion source to maintain an operating efficiency of the ion source comprises, in one embodiment, contacting the sequentially supplied dopant composition with the cathode, Determining one or more of the ion source, cathode and / or one or more other components of the ion source by measuring one or more of the sequentially supplied dopant compositions in response to the measured cathode bias power, Lt; / RTI >

The term "modulating " with respect to the sequentially supplied dopant composition means that the order, duration, process conditions, or dopant composition selection for one or more of the sequentially supplied dopant compositions is determined by the measured cathode bias power In other words, selectively changes. Thus, the supply period for each dopant composition may be varied to maintain the set cathode bias power, or one dopant composition may be supplied at a higher voltage condition than the other, or the feedback monitoring and control system May be configured to control / select / alternate between each dopant composition.

In another embodiment, the method can be used to simultaneously or sequentially flow cleaner or deposition agent through an ion source in conjunction with one or more dopant compositions, wherein the monitored power usage is at an initial or different The cathode bias power or other power utilization variable of the ion source, when increased to a predetermined or set value or level, causes etching of the cathode by flowing an etchant through an ion source to remove deposits therefrom The cathode bias power or other power utilization variable of the ion source may be adjusted by flowing a deposition agent through the ion source and / And is used to perform regrowth of cathode materials .

Therefore, the present invention contemplates various aspects, features and advantages associated with the use of isotope-rich silicon dopant compositions.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the compositions, processes, methods, apparatus, and systems of the present invention can be implemented and applied in a wide variety of ways to correspondingly improve the performance of the ion implantation system.

While the present invention has been disclosed herein with reference to specific aspects, features and illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the use of the invention is not limited thereto, but rather that many, if any, It is to be understood that other variations, modifications and other embodiments may be devised which extend or fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims be construed broadly to include all such variations, modifications, and other embodiments that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (27)

Ionizing the silicon dopant composition to form ionized silicon, and
Contacting the ionized silicon with a substrate to implant silicon into the substrate
A method for ion implanting silicon, comprising:
Wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises at least one silicon compound that is isopopically enriched in excess of a natural abundance of at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si,
Wherein when the silicon dopant composition is composed of silicon tetrafluoride rich in ²⁹ Si, the abundance level is greater than 50 atom% and less than 100 atom%. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the silicon dopant composition comprises a supplemental gas comprising at least one of (i) the silicon compound in gaseous form as a silicon dopant gas, and (ii) a co-species gas and a diluent gas. . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the silicon dopant composition is ionized using an ionization device to produce an ion beam of silicon ions,
Wherein the method comprises accelerating the ion beam by an electric field to implant silicon into the substrate in the contacting step. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ionized silicon is contacted with a substrate by a plasma impregnation process to implant silicon into the substrate. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the silicon dopant composition is selected from the group consisting of silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, and chlorosilane ≪ / RTI > 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the silicon compound is isotopically enriched with a spontaneous generation of excess of ²⁸ Si. The method according to claim 6,
The method comprises a silicon rich tetrafluoride, - is the silicon compound, ²⁸ is 92.3 at% Si exceeds isotopes in a concentration range of less than 100 atomic%. 8. The method of claim 7,
The method of the silicon tetrafluoride is, Si is ²⁸ to the sole isotope firing (homoisotopic). 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the supplemental gas is selected from the group consisting of argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germane, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, , Xenon difluoride, diborane, methane, and xenon. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the dopant gas composition comprises a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:
(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;
(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;
(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;
(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;
(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;
(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;
(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;
(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;
(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;
(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;
(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;
(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;
(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;
(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And
(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon. (A) a gas storage and dispensing vessel containing a silicon dopant composition comprising a silicon dopant gas in the form of a mixture with a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary-seed gas, wherein the silicon dopant composition Wherein at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si comprises isotope-rich one or more gaseous silicon compounds in terms of naturally occurring ratio excess; And
(B) a second gas storage and dispensing vessel having a first gas storage and dispensing vessel containing (i) a silicon dopant gas, and (ii) a supplemental gas comprising at least one of a diluent gas and an auxiliary- Wherein at least one of the silicon dopant gas and the auxiliary-species gas, if present, is an isotopically-enriched gas of at least one of ²⁸ Si, ²⁹ Si, and ³⁰ Si, Gas supply kit
≪ / RTI > wherein the dopant gas composition is selected from the group consisting of: < RTI ID = 0.0 > 12. The method of claim 11,
A silicon compound selected from the group consisting of silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, and chlorosilane. Dopant gas composition feeder. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the silicon compound is isotopically enriched with a spontaneously occurring excess of ²⁸ Si. 14. The method of claim 13,
The silicon compound is, Si is ²⁸ atomic% more than 92.3 isotopes in a concentration range of less than 100 atomic% in, the dopant gas supply composition comprises a rich silicon tetrafluoride. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein said silicon tetrafluoride is ²⁸ Si singly isotonic. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein said supplemental gas is selected from the group consisting of argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germene, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, Wherein the diluent gas comprises a diluent gas selected from the group consisting of diborane, methane, and xenon. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the dopant gas composition comprises a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:
(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;
(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;
(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;
(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;
(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;
(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;
(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;
(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;
(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;
(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;
(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;
(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;
(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;
(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And
(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the dopant gas composition feeder is (A). 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the dopant gas composition feeder is (B). An ion implantation system comprising an ion implanter configured in gas-receiving flow communication with a dopant gas composition feeder according to claim 11. 21. The method of claim 20,
The ion implanter
(A) ionizing the silicon dopant composition from the dopant gas composition feeder to form ionized silicon; contacting the substrate with the ionized silicon to implant silicon into the substrate;
(B) applying an ion beam to the substrate by (i) generating an ion beam of the ionized silicon and accelerating the ion beam with respect to the substrate by an electric field to inject silicon into the substrate, or (ii) To carry out the impregnation process
Modified ion implantation system. A method for enhancing the operation of an ion implantation system, comprising providing the dopant gas composition feeder according to claim 11 for use in an ion implantation system. 23. The method of claim 22,
Wherein the dopant gas composition feeder is selected from the group consisting of silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ), silane (SiH ₄ ), disilane (Si ₂ H ₆ ), C ₁ -C ₈ alkylsilane, fluorosilane, and chlorosilane ≪ / RTI > 24. The method of claim 23,
The method comprises a silicon rich tetrafluoride, - is the silicon compound, ²⁸ is 92.3 at% Si in an amount greater than the naturally occurring isotope ratio exceeds a concentration range of less than 100 atomic%. 25. The method of claim 24,
Wherein said silicon tetrafluoride is a single isotope of ²⁸ Si. 23. The method of claim 22,
Wherein said supplemental gas is selected from the group consisting of argon, hydrogen, fluorine, krypton, neon, helium, ammonia, amine, water, phosphine, arsine, germene, hydrogen selenide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, Wherein the diluent gas comprises a diluent gas selected from the group consisting of diborane, methane, and xenon. 23. The method of claim 22,
Wherein the dopant gas composition comprises a gas composition selected from the group consisting of:
(i) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and xenon and hydrogen;
(ii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and silane;
(iii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich silanes;
(iv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and argon;
(v) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and disilane;
(vi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and isotope-rich disilanes;
(vii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen;
(viii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia;
(ix) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and xenon;
(x) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen and krypton;
(xi) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and ammonia and krypton;
(xii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen;
(xiii) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and xenon;
(xiv) isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and nitrogen and krypton; And
(xv) At least one of isotope-rich silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, xenon, and argon.

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