US20140030875A1 - Method for forming compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and epitaxy product made by the same method - Google Patents
Method for forming compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and epitaxy product made by the same method Download PDFInfo
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- US20140030875A1 US20140030875A1 US14/037,616 US201314037616A US2014030875A1 US 20140030875 A1 US20140030875 A1 US 20140030875A1 US 201314037616 A US201314037616 A US 201314037616A US 2014030875 A1 US2014030875 A1 US 2014030875A1
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- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 50
- 150000001875 compounds Chemical class 0.000 title claims abstract description 28
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 23
- 238000000407 epitaxy Methods 0.000 title description 25
- 229910052755 nonmetal Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 42
- 150000002500 ions Chemical class 0.000 claims abstract description 33
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- 229910021645 metal ion Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000005229 chemical vapour deposition Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 8
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- 125000004429 atom Chemical group 0.000 claims description 30
- IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N Atomic nitrogen Chemical compound N#N IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 19
- 229910052719 titanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 19
- 239000010936 titanium Substances 0.000 claims description 19
- QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ammonia Chemical compound N QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 15
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 15
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 15
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 claims description 15
- RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Titanium Chemical compound [Ti] RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 14
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 claims description 14
- 229910052757 nitrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 12
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 10
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims description 10
- QVGXLLKOCUKJST-UHFFFAOYSA-N atomic oxygen Chemical compound [O] QVGXLLKOCUKJST-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 8
- 229910052760 oxygen Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000001301 oxygen Substances 0.000 claims description 8
- OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Phosphorus Chemical compound [P] OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 7
- 229910052698 phosphorus Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000011574 phosphorus Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- XYFCBTPGUUZFHI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Phosphine Chemical compound P XYFCBTPGUUZFHI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910021529 ammonia Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- RBFQJDQYXXHULB-UHFFFAOYSA-N arsane Chemical compound [AsH3] RBFQJDQYXXHULB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- MNWRORMXBIWXCI-UHFFFAOYSA-N tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium Chemical compound CN(C)[Ti](N(C)C)(N(C)C)N(C)C MNWRORMXBIWXCI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910001868 water Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- NINIDFKCEFEMDL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Sulfur Chemical compound [S] NINIDFKCEFEMDL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 5
- 229910052785 arsenic Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 5
- RQNWIZPPADIBDY-UHFFFAOYSA-N arsenic atom Chemical compound [As] RQNWIZPPADIBDY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 5
- 229910052717 sulfur Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000011593 sulfur Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- RWSOTUBLDIXVET-UHFFFAOYSA-N Dihydrogen sulfide Chemical compound S RWSOTUBLDIXVET-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zirconium Chemical compound [Zr] QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052715 tantalum Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- GUVRBAGPIYLISA-UHFFFAOYSA-N tantalum atom Chemical compound [Ta] GUVRBAGPIYLISA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052726 zirconium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N Boron Chemical compound [B] ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N Magnesium Chemical compound [Mg] FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910001182 Mo alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- HCHKCACWOHOZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zinc Chemical compound [Zn] HCHKCACWOHOZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052796 boron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- WUUZKBJEUBFVMV-UHFFFAOYSA-N copper molybdenum Chemical compound [Cu].[Mo] WUUZKBJEUBFVMV-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000005350 fused silica glass Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052749 magnesium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000011777 magnesium Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052706 scandium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- SIXSYDAISGFNSX-UHFFFAOYSA-N scandium atom Chemical compound [Sc] SIXSYDAISGFNSX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 125000004434 sulfur atom Chemical group 0.000 claims description 3
- WFKWXMTUELFFGS-UHFFFAOYSA-N tungsten Chemical compound [W] WFKWXMTUELFFGS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052721 tungsten Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000010937 tungsten Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052725 zinc Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000011701 zinc Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910000037 hydrogen sulfide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims 2
- 229910000073 phosphorus hydride Inorganic materials 0.000 claims 2
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 98
- -1 AlGaInN) Chemical class 0.000 description 25
- 239000013078 crystal Substances 0.000 description 21
- 238000001451 molecular beam epitaxy Methods 0.000 description 21
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- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 12
- 150000004767 nitrides Chemical class 0.000 description 11
- NRTOMJZYCJJWKI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Titanium nitride Chemical compound [Ti]#N NRTOMJZYCJJWKI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 10
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- 229910000070 arsenic hydride Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004943 liquid phase epitaxy Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 2
- 125000004433 nitrogen atom Chemical group N* 0.000 description 2
- 239000000523 sample Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000000348 solid-phase epitaxy Methods 0.000 description 2
- JBRZTFJDHDCESZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N AsGa Chemical compound [As]#[Ga] JBRZTFJDHDCESZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- GYHNNYVSQQEPJS-UHFFFAOYSA-N Gallium Chemical compound [Ga] GYHNNYVSQQEPJS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910001218 Gallium arsenide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
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- 229910052733 gallium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052735 hafnium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- VBJZVLUMGGDVMO-UHFFFAOYSA-N hafnium atom Chemical compound [Hf] VBJZVLUMGGDVMO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
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- 150000002739 metals Chemical class 0.000 description 1
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- 238000002128 reflection high energy electron diffraction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002310 reflectometry Methods 0.000 description 1
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- UONOETXJSWQNOL-UHFFFAOYSA-N tungsten carbide Chemical compound [W+]#[C-] UONOETXJSWQNOL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000007738 vacuum evaporation Methods 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02612—Formation types
- H01L21/02617—Deposition types
- H01L21/0262—Reduction or decomposition of gaseous compounds, e.g. CVD
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C30—CRYSTAL GROWTH
- C30B—SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C30B25/00—Single-crystal growth by chemical reaction of reactive gases, e.g. chemical vapour-deposition growth
- C30B25/02—Epitaxial-layer growth
- C30B25/18—Epitaxial-layer growth characterised by the substrate
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
- C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
- C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
- C23C16/22—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the deposition of inorganic material, other than metallic material
- C23C16/30—Deposition of compounds, mixtures or solid solutions, e.g. borides, carbides, nitrides
- C23C16/34—Nitrides
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
- C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
- C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
- C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
- C23C16/455—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating characterised by the method used for introducing gases into reaction chamber or for modifying gas flows in reaction chamber
- C23C16/45523—Pulsed gas flow or change of composition over time
- C23C16/45525—Atomic layer deposition [ALD]
- C23C16/45527—Atomic layer deposition [ALD] characterized by the ALD cycle, e.g. different flows or temperatures during half-reactions, unusual pulsing sequence, use of precursor mixtures or auxiliary reactants or activations
- C23C16/45536—Use of plasma, radiation or electromagnetic fields
- C23C16/4554—Plasma being used non-continuously in between ALD reactions
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C30—CRYSTAL GROWTH
- C30B—SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C30B25/00—Single-crystal growth by chemical reaction of reactive gases, e.g. chemical vapour-deposition growth
- C30B25/02—Epitaxial-layer growth
- C30B25/18—Epitaxial-layer growth characterised by the substrate
- C30B25/186—Epitaxial-layer growth characterised by the substrate being specially pre-treated by, e.g. chemical or physical means
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C30—CRYSTAL GROWTH
- C30B—SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C30B29/00—Single crystals or homogeneous polycrystalline material with defined structure characterised by the material or by their shape
- C30B29/10—Inorganic compounds or compositions
- C30B29/38—Nitrides
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- H—ELECTRICITY
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- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/28—Manufacture of electrodes on semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/268
- H01L21/283—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current
- H01L21/285—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation
- H01L21/28506—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers
- H01L21/28512—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers on semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
- H01L21/28556—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers on semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table by chemical means, e.g. CVD, LPCVD, PECVD, laser CVD
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
- H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
- H01L21/28—Manufacture of electrodes on semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/268
- H01L21/283—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current
- H01L21/285—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation
- H01L21/28506—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers
- H01L21/28512—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers on semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
- H01L21/28568—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a gas or vapour, e.g. condensation of conductive layers on semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table the conductive layers comprising transition metals
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer, more particularly to a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding, wherein the compound epitaxial layer has chemical bonds with an unsaturated ionic bond layer and a contact layer, and the chemical bonds are much stronger than physical binding achieved by the prior art, so as to effectively prevent the different layers from delamination.
- Epitaxy is a technique for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Also known as epitaxial growth, this technique is intended for growing crystals on a substrate and thereby producing a new semiconductor layer. Crystals or crystal grains grown by epitaxy are called epitaxial crystals. Epitaxy can be used to make silicon transistors, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits and so on. In particular, epitaxy is an essential technique for making compound semiconductors.
- CMOS complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
- Epitaxy includes chemical vapor deposition (CVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), vacuum evaporation, liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) and solid-phase epitaxy (SPE).
- CVD chemical vapor deposition
- MBE molecular beam epitaxy
- LPE liquid-phase epitaxy
- SPE solid-phase epitaxy
- MBE is typically used in making epitaxy products having mirror-like planar crystals. Invented by J. R. Arthur and Alfred Y. Cho at Bell Laboratories, MBE is a method for growing single-crystal materials and must be performed in high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum.
- MBE metal-organic chemical vapor deposition
- the low deposition rate also means that a sufficiently high vacuum is required to achieve the same purity level as other deposition methods.
- elements are separately heated in an ultra-pure form until they begin to sublime slowly. The resultant gaseous substances condense on a wafer and react with one another. Gallium and arsenic, for example, can react with each other to form single-crystal gallium arsenide.
- beam is used in the term “molecular beam epitaxy” because the gas atoms in the MBE process do not interact with one another or with substances in the vacuum chamber.
- each crystal layer can be precisely controlled by controlling the valves of the reaction chamber.
- the rate of epitaxial growth depends entirely on the number of molecules impinging on the substrate surface in a unit time, the thickness of each epitaxial layer formed by MBE can be precisely controlled thanks to its low deposition rate.
- a product with mirror-like planar crystals grown by MBE is free of island-type nucleation or cluster growth, both of which are characteristics of columnar crystals. Nevertheless, an MBE product tends to have relatively low binding strength between the epitaxial layers, which are bound together by physical contact. According to years of research and observation by the inventor of the present invention, a product made by the conventional MBE method is subject to delamination of the epitaxial layers, which is highly undesirable. Further, MBE often suffers from high epitaxial barriers and incurs high production costs that lay a huge burden on the manufacturers.
- a group III-V nitride (e.g., AlGaInN) substrate structure with an epitaxial buffer layer made of titanium nitride has been disclosed, wherein the titanium nitride buffer layer is formed on the surface of a silicon substrate.
- a silicon substrate for the epitaxy of a group III-V nitride layer has the following advantages: (1) the manufacturing process can be simplified, and the associated costs can be reduced; (2) good thermal conductivity is provided; (3) a large surface area (so far 12′′ or greater in diameter) is achievable; and (4) the existing silicon-based semiconductor techniques can be used.
- the lattice constant at the (111) surface of silicon is fax different from that at the (0001) surface of the group III-V nitride (e.g., AlGaInN)
- the significant mismatch between the lattices requires that a buffer layer be grown on the silicon before the desired nitride film is formed, wherein the buffer layer serves to overcome the stress caused by lattice mismatch.
- MOCVD metalorganic chemical vapor deposition
- the product of the another method mainly includes a substrate, a titanium layer, a metal nitride layer and a group III nitride semiconductor layer.
- the titanium layer is formed on the substrate.
- the metal nitride layer is made of a metal nitride containing one or more metals selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium and tantalum.
- the group III nitride semiconductor layer is formed on the metal nitride layer.
- a titanium nitride layer i.e., the metal nitride layer
- PVD physical vapor deposition
- the issue to be addressed by the present invention is to solve the various problems of the conventional epitaxy methods, thereby increasing the strength of the conventional physical contact-based binding between epitaxial layers, preventing the epitaxial layers from delamination, and allowing mirror-like planar crystals to be formed without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process.
- the inventor of the present invention conducted extensive research and experiment and finally succeeded in developing a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and an epitaxy product made by the method. It is hoped that, under the premise of not using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, epitaxy can be carried out by means of chemical bonding to ensure sufficient binding strength between epitaxial layers and thereby increase product yield.
- a contact layer is formed on a substrate.
- the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are then chemically reacted with non-metal atoms at a temperature of 200° C. or above, such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions.
- the non-metal ions are bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer by chemical bonding and thus form an unsaturated ionic bond layer on the surface of the contact layer.
- the non-metal ions are subsequently excited by energy excitation, thereby turning the unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer into dangling bonds.
- chemical vapor deposition is performed by introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas.
- the metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the dangling bonds and are uniformly bound to the dangling bonds.
- the anions of the reactant gas on the other hand, are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding.
- a compound epitaxial layer is formed.
- the compound epitaxial layer formed according to the present invention has high hardness as well as outstanding spectral absorption features. Also, the chemical bonds between the compound epitaxial layer, the unsaturated ionic bond layer and the contact layer are much stronger than the binding conventionally achieved by physical contact, and this high bond strength effectively prevents the different layers from delamination.
- mirror-like planar crystals free of the structural characteristics of columnar crystals such as island-type nucleation and cluster growth can be formed.
- a manufacturer can produce mirror-like planar crystals without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, and product yield can be greatly increased while production costs are reduced.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide an epitaxy product having a compound epitaxial layer formed by chemical bonding.
- the epitaxy product includes a substrate, a contact layer and a compound epitaxial layer.
- the contact layer is formed on the substrate.
- the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are chemically reacted with non-metal atoms such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions.
- the non-metal ions are bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer by chemical bonding and thus form an unsaturated ionic bond layer.
- the non-metal ions are then subjected to energy excitation; as a result, the unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer become dangling bonds.
- chemical vapor deposition is performed by further introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas.
- the metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the dangling bonds and are bound to the dangling bonds.
- the anions of the reactant gas on the other hand, are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding.
- the compound epitaxial layer is formed on the contact layer.
- the unsaturated ionic bond layer and the contact layer are bound together by chemical bonding, which features high binding strength, the epitaxy product of the present invention is apparently superior to those made by the conventional methods.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the substrate is a silicon wafer while the contact layer is a metal layer made of titanium, tantalum, aluminum, zinc, scandium, zirconium or magnesium or is an amphoteric-element layer made of boron or silicon.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the reactant gas can be ammonia (NH 3 ), phosphine (PH 3 ), water (H 2 O), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) or arsine (AsH 3 ) in order to produce a compound epitaxial layer containing the element nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic.
- the reactant gas can be ammonia (NH 3 ), phosphine (PH 3 ), water (H 2 O), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) or arsine (AsH 3 ) in order to produce a compound epitaxial layer containing the element nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the non-metal atoms reacting chemically with the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen or sulfur atoms.
- Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the organic metal compound is tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium.
- FIG. 1 is the first schematic drawing of a preferred embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is the second schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is the third schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is the fourth schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 5 is the fifth schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- the inventor of the present invention has long been engaged in research, development and designing in epitaxy-related fields. In the process, the inventor has found that so far mirror-like planar crystals cannot be made epitaxially without using MBE. However, not only is MBE costly, but also the epitaxial layers formed by MBE are bound together by physical contact, whose binding strength is low; as a result, delamination may occur, and low product yield follows, which is highly undesirable. Although attempts have been made in search for improvement, an ideal solution has yet to be found. In consideration of this, the inventor came up with taking advantage of the properties of dangling bonds and using an unsaturated ionic bond layer to realize chemical bonding between a contact layer and a compound epitaxial layer. Thus, by increasing the binding strength between the layers, delamination can be effectively prevented.
- the present invention discloses a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and an epitaxy product made by the method.
- a preferred embodiment of the present invention is presented as follows. Referring to FIG. 1 , the method begins by forming a contact layer 11 on a substrate 10 .
- the substrate 10 is a silicon wafer, and yet the material of the substrate 10 is not limited to silicon.
- the substrate 10 may also be made of fused quartz, copper-molybdenum alloy, tungsten, titanium or like materials capable of standing the temperature of the manufacturing process.
- the contact layer 11 can be a metal layer made of titanium, tantalum, aluminum, zinc, scandium, zirconium or magnesium, or an amphoteric-element layer made of boron or silicon.
- the contact layer 11 is formed of titanium, and the titanium is in ohmic contact with the silicon wafer.
- the term “ohmic contact” refers to the contact between a metal and a semiconductor, wherein the resistance at the contact surface is far lower than the resistance of the semiconductor such that the voltage drop during operation typically takes place in an active region rather than at the contact surface. It should be understood that the materials of the substrate 10 and of the contact layer 11 are not limited to those disclosed herein. All variations easily conceivable by a person skilled in the art should fall within the scope of the present invention.
- the atoms (i.e., titanium atoms 110 ) on the surface of the contact layer 11 are chemically reacted with non-metal atoms at a temperature of, as in this preferred embodiment, 200° C. or above. Consequently, the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions 120 , which are bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer 11 by chemical bonding. As such, the non-metal ions 120 form an unsaturated ionic bond layer 12 on the surface of the contact layer 11 .
- the non-metal atoms can be atoms of nitrogen, phosphoms, oxygen or sulfur and are nitrogen atoms in this preferred embodiment.
- the nitrogen atoms After chemical reaction with the atoms (i.e., titanium atoms 110 ) on the surface of the contact layer 11 , the nitrogen atoms become nitrogen ions (i.e., non-metal ions 120 ) and form the unsaturated ionic bond layer 12 .
- the non-metal ions 120 are excited by energy excitation such that the unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions 120 that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer 11 become dangling bonds 121 .
- a “dangling bond” refers to a free radical consisting of an electron that is not part of a chemical bond (i.e., an unpaired electron).
- the dangling bonds 121 generated by energy excitation exhibit extremely high activity and have electric dipole attraction. The inventor has found that, once the dangling bonds 121 are generated by excitation, epitaxial barriers are effectively lowered, and this is helpful in forming the subsequent epitaxial layer.
- laser can be used as the means of energy excitation
- present invention imposes no limitations on the excitation means.
- a manufacturer may change the means of energy excitation according to product requirements and process conditions. For instance, thermal excitation or excitation by other means is equally applicable. All changes conceivable by a person skilled in the art should be viewed as equivalent variations of the present invention and as not departing from the scope of the present invention.
- chemical vapor deposition is carried out by, as in this embodiment, introducing a titanium compound (i.e., an organic metal compound) and ammonia (i.e., a reactant gas).
- the titanium ions 130 of the titanium compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the dangling bonds 121 and are uniformly bound to the dangling bonds 121 .
- the nitrogen ions 131 of the ammonia (NH 3 ) are bound to the titanium ions 130 by ionic bonding.
- a titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 i.e., a compound epitaxial layer
- TDMAT tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium
- NH 3 ammonia
- TDMAT being only one example of organic metal compounds, applicable organic metal compounds are by no means limited thereto.
- a manufacturer may change the composition of the organic metal compound according to the manufacturing process used and product design requirements.
- phosphine (PH 3 ), water (H 2 O), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) or arsine (AsH 3 ) may also be used as the reactant gas in order to produce a compound epitaxial layer containing the element phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic. All changes in materials readily conceivable by a person skilled in the art should fall within the scope of the present invention.
- the technical features of the present invention are such that, owing to the strong polarity of the dangling bonds 121 and the specific directions of the electric dipole attraction of the dangling bonds 121 , not only are epitaxial barriers lowered, but also the titanium ions 130 of the titanium compound are guided in the correct directions to be uniformly bound to the dangling bonds 121 , with a strong bonding force between the titanium ions 130 and the dangling bonds 121 . Moreover, the binding between, and the arrangement of, the nitrogen ions 131 and the titanium ions 130 are rendered uniform, thanks to the electric dipoles that enable automatic adjustment of the direction of contact between the nitrogen ions 131 and the titanium ions 130 .
- the titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 formed according to the present invention has high quality, high hardness and excellent spectrum absorption features. Further, as the titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 , the unsaturated ionic bond layer 12 and the contact layer 11 are bound together by chemical bonding, with a bond strength far greater than the binding strength conventionally achieved by physical contact, delamination of the different layers is effectively prevented. Not only that, since the present invention does not need the complicated buffer structure conventionally required, the reduced complexity of the manufacturing process lowers production costs while the reduced use of chemicals contributes to environmental protection.
- the inventor conducted a four-point probe test on a product made by the method of the preferred embodiment, and the product under test could not be pierced.
- the probe is made of tungsten carbide, whose Mohs hardness ranges from 8.5 to 9.0
- the epitaxy product of the present invention possesses the characteristic of a superhard material.
- a thickness test was performed with THERMA WAVE's measuring machine OP2600 in the DUV (deep ultraviolet) mode, and yet the correct thickness could not be obtained. This means that the reflectivity of the product is less than 13% and that the product is highly absorptive in the DUV range.
- An additional SEM (scanning electron microscope) thickness check shows that the thickness of the titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 is 30 ⁇ 0.1 nm, wherein the thickness uniformity (0.1+30) is less than 0.35% and complies with the thickness uniformity requirement for epitaxy, i.e., less than 1.0%.
- mirror-like planar crystals can be successfully formed without island-type nucleation or cluster growth, which are two structural characteristics of columnar crystals.
- a manufacturer can therefore produce mirror-like planar crystals without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, and product yield can be significantly increased while production costs are lowered.
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Abstract
The present invention is to provide a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding, which comprises the steps of forming a contact layer on a substrate; chemically reacting atoms on a surface of the contact layer with non-metal atoms, such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions for chemically bonding to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer; exciting the non-metal ions by energy excitation, such that unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions not yet bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer become dangling bonds; and conducting chemical vapor deposition by introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas, wherein metal ions of the organic metal compound are bound to the dangling bonds by electric dipole attraction, and anions of the reactant gas are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding, such that the compound epitaxial layer is formed.
Description
- The present invention relates to a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer, more particularly to a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding, wherein the compound epitaxial layer has chemical bonds with an unsaturated ionic bond layer and a contact layer, and the chemical bonds are much stronger than physical binding achieved by the prior art, so as to effectively prevent the different layers from delamination.
- Epitaxy is a technique for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Also known as epitaxial growth, this technique is intended for growing crystals on a substrate and thereby producing a new semiconductor layer. Crystals or crystal grains grown by epitaxy are called epitaxial crystals. Epitaxy can be used to make silicon transistors, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits and so on. In particular, epitaxy is an essential technique for making compound semiconductors.
- Epitaxy includes chemical vapor deposition (CVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), vacuum evaporation, liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) and solid-phase epitaxy (SPE). In a semiconductor manufacturing process, one basic and important step is to grow an epitaxial layer on a semiconductor substrate, and the thickness and composition of the epitaxial layer have a significant impact on the features and yield rate of the product. Among the various epitaxy methods, perhaps only MBE can fully satisfy precision requirements; therefore, MBE is typically used in making epitaxy products having mirror-like planar crystals. Invented by J. R. Arthur and Alfred Y. Cho at Bell Laboratories, MBE is a method for growing single-crystal materials and must be performed in high vacuum or ultra-high vacuum.
- The most important feature of MBE is its low deposition rate. In most cases, MBE allows films to grow epitaxially at a rate less than 1000 nm per hour. The low deposition rate, however, also means that a sufficiently high vacuum is required to achieve the same purity level as other deposition methods. In solid-source MBE, elements are separately heated in an ultra-pure form until they begin to sublime slowly. The resultant gaseous substances condense on a wafer and react with one another. Gallium and arsenic, for example, can react with each other to form single-crystal gallium arsenide. The word “beam” is used in the term “molecular beam epitaxy” because the gas atoms in the MBE process do not interact with one another or with substances in the vacuum chamber. During the MBE process, the progress of crystal layer growth can be monitored by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). In addition, the growth of each crystal layer—even each single layer of atoms—can be precisely controlled by controlling the valves of the reaction chamber. As the rate of epitaxial growth depends entirely on the number of molecules impinging on the substrate surface in a unit time, the thickness of each epitaxial layer formed by MBE can be precisely controlled thanks to its low deposition rate.
- A product with mirror-like planar crystals grown by MBE is free of island-type nucleation or cluster growth, both of which are characteristics of columnar crystals. Nevertheless, an MBE product tends to have relatively low binding strength between the epitaxial layers, which are bound together by physical contact. According to years of research and observation by the inventor of the present invention, a product made by the conventional MBE method is subject to delamination of the epitaxial layers, which is highly undesirable. Further, MBE often suffers from high epitaxial barriers and incurs high production costs that lay a huge burden on the manufacturers.
- In view of the prior art, a group III-V nitride (e.g., AlGaInN) substrate structure with an epitaxial buffer layer made of titanium nitride has been disclosed, wherein the titanium nitride buffer layer is formed on the surface of a silicon substrate. Using a silicon substrate for the epitaxy of a group III-V nitride layer has the following advantages: (1) the manufacturing process can be simplified, and the associated costs can be reduced; (2) good thermal conductivity is provided; (3) a large surface area (so far 12″ or greater in diameter) is achievable; and (4) the existing silicon-based semiconductor techniques can be used. However, as the lattice constant at the (111) surface of silicon is fax different from that at the (0001) surface of the group III-V nitride (e.g., AlGaInN), the significant mismatch between the lattices requires that a buffer layer be grown on the silicon before the desired nitride film is formed, wherein the buffer layer serves to overcome the stress caused by lattice mismatch. While making direct use of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to grow a titanium nitride film, the inventor of the present invention has found after thorough study that it is practically difficult to produce effective crystal grains by using the approach disclosed in the prior art. Hence, the method disclosed in the prior art is currently inapplicable to actual production.
- There was another method for making a semiconductor device, and the product of the another method mainly includes a substrate, a titanium layer, a metal nitride layer and a group III nitride semiconductor layer. The titanium layer is formed on the substrate. The metal nitride layer is made of a metal nitride containing one or more metals selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium and tantalum. The group III nitride semiconductor layer is formed on the metal nitride layer. In the another method, a titanium nitride layer (i.e., the metal nitride layer) is formed on the titanium layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD). However, the inventor of the present invention has found after extensive research that the surface crystal grains formed by PVD are too small to form an effective titanium nitride layer and that the yield rate of the product, therefore, has yet to meet industrial requirements.
- The issue to be addressed by the present invention is to solve the various problems of the conventional epitaxy methods, thereby increasing the strength of the conventional physical contact-based binding between epitaxial layers, preventing the epitaxial layers from delamination, and allowing mirror-like planar crystals to be formed without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process.
- In view of the various problems of the conventional epitaxy methods, the inventor of the present invention conducted extensive research and experiment and finally succeeded in developing a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and an epitaxy product made by the method. It is hoped that, under the premise of not using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, epitaxy can be carried out by means of chemical bonding to ensure sufficient binding strength between epitaxial layers and thereby increase product yield.
- It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding, and the method is performed as follows. To begin with, a contact layer is formed on a substrate. The atoms on the surface of the contact layer are then chemically reacted with non-metal atoms at a temperature of 200° C. or above, such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions. The non-metal ions are bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer by chemical bonding and thus form an unsaturated ionic bond layer on the surface of the contact layer. The non-metal ions are subsequently excited by energy excitation, thereby turning the unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer into dangling bonds. Following that, chemical vapor deposition is performed by introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas. The metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the dangling bonds and are uniformly bound to the dangling bonds. The anions of the reactant gas, on the other hand, are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding. Thus, a compound epitaxial layer is formed. As a result of the technical features of the present invention, and thanks to the strong polarity of the dangling bonds and the specific directions of electric dipole attraction, not only are epitaxial barriers lowered, but also the metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided in the correct directions to be uniformly and securely bound to the dangling bonds. Because of that, the compound epitaxial layer formed according to the present invention has high hardness as well as outstanding spectral absorption features. Also, the chemical bonds between the compound epitaxial layer, the unsaturated ionic bond layer and the contact layer are much stronger than the binding conventionally achieved by physical contact, and this high bond strength effectively prevents the different layers from delamination. Further, as the electric dipole attraction of the dangling bonds helps guide and arrange the metal ions and the anions in the correct directions during the formation of the compound epitaxial layer, mirror-like planar crystals free of the structural characteristics of columnar crystals such as island-type nucleation and cluster growth can be formed. Hence, by applying the present invention, a manufacturer can produce mirror-like planar crystals without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, and product yield can be greatly increased while production costs are reduced.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide an epitaxy product having a compound epitaxial layer formed by chemical bonding. The epitaxy product includes a substrate, a contact layer and a compound epitaxial layer. The contact layer is formed on the substrate. The atoms on the surface of the contact layer are chemically reacted with non-metal atoms such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions. The non-metal ions are bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer by chemical bonding and thus form an unsaturated ionic bond layer. The non-metal ions are then subjected to energy excitation; as a result, the unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer become dangling bonds. To form the compound epitaxial layer, chemical vapor deposition is performed by further introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas. The metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the dangling bonds and are bound to the dangling bonds. The anions of the reactant gas, on the other hand, are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding. Thus, the compound epitaxial layer is formed on the contact layer. As the compound epitaxial layer, the unsaturated ionic bond layer and the contact layer are bound together by chemical bonding, which features high binding strength, the epitaxy product of the present invention is apparently superior to those made by the conventional methods.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the substrate is a silicon wafer while the contact layer is a metal layer made of titanium, tantalum, aluminum, zinc, scandium, zirconium or magnesium or is an amphoteric-element layer made of boron or silicon.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the reactant gas can be ammonia (NH3), phosphine (PH3), water (H2O), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or arsine (AsH3) in order to produce a compound epitaxial layer containing the element nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic.
- Still another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the non-metal atoms reacting chemically with the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen or sulfur atoms.
- Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing method and epitaxy product, wherein the organic metal compound is tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium.
- The structure as well as a preferred mode of use, further objects and advantages of the present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
-
FIG. 1 is the first schematic drawing of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is the second schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 3 is the third schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is the fourth schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and -
FIG. 5 is the fifth schematic drawing of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. - The inventor of the present invention has long been engaged in research, development and designing in epitaxy-related fields. In the process, the inventor has found that so far mirror-like planar crystals cannot be made epitaxially without using MBE. However, not only is MBE costly, but also the epitaxial layers formed by MBE are bound together by physical contact, whose binding strength is low; as a result, delamination may occur, and low product yield follows, which is highly undesirable. Although attempts have been made in search for improvement, an ideal solution has yet to be found. In consideration of this, the inventor came up with taking advantage of the properties of dangling bonds and using an unsaturated ionic bond layer to realize chemical bonding between a contact layer and a compound epitaxial layer. Thus, by increasing the binding strength between the layers, delamination can be effectively prevented.
- The present invention discloses a method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding and an epitaxy product made by the method. To describe the method and the epitaxy product in detail, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is presented as follows. Referring to
FIG. 1 , the method begins by forming acontact layer 11 on asubstrate 10. In this preferred embodiment, thesubstrate 10 is a silicon wafer, and yet the material of thesubstrate 10 is not limited to silicon. Thesubstrate 10 may also be made of fused quartz, copper-molybdenum alloy, tungsten, titanium or like materials capable of standing the temperature of the manufacturing process. Thecontact layer 11, on the other hand, can be a metal layer made of titanium, tantalum, aluminum, zinc, scandium, zirconium or magnesium, or an amphoteric-element layer made of boron or silicon. In this preferred embodiment, thecontact layer 11 is formed of titanium, and the titanium is in ohmic contact with the silicon wafer. The term “ohmic contact” refers to the contact between a metal and a semiconductor, wherein the resistance at the contact surface is far lower than the resistance of the semiconductor such that the voltage drop during operation typically takes place in an active region rather than at the contact surface. It should be understood that the materials of thesubstrate 10 and of thecontact layer 11 are not limited to those disclosed herein. All variations easily conceivable by a person skilled in the art should fall within the scope of the present invention. - After the formation of the
contact layer 11, referring toFIG. 2 , the atoms (i.e., titanium atoms 110) on the surface of thecontact layer 11 are chemically reacted with non-metal atoms at a temperature of, as in this preferred embodiment, 200° C. or above. Consequently, the non-metal atoms formnon-metal ions 120, which are bound to the atoms on the surface of thecontact layer 11 by chemical bonding. As such, thenon-metal ions 120 form an unsaturatedionic bond layer 12 on the surface of thecontact layer 11. The non-metal atoms can be atoms of nitrogen, phosphoms, oxygen or sulfur and are nitrogen atoms in this preferred embodiment. After chemical reaction with the atoms (i.e., titanium atoms 110) on the surface of thecontact layer 11, the nitrogen atoms become nitrogen ions (i.e., non-metal ions 120) and form the unsaturatedionic bond layer 12. - In the present invention, referring to
FIG. 3 , thenon-metal ions 120 are excited by energy excitation such that the unpaired electrons of thenon-metal ions 120 that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of thecontact layer 11 become danglingbonds 121. A “dangling bond” refers to a free radical consisting of an electron that is not part of a chemical bond (i.e., an unpaired electron). In the present invention, the danglingbonds 121 generated by energy excitation exhibit extremely high activity and have electric dipole attraction. The inventor has found that, once the danglingbonds 121 are generated by excitation, epitaxial barriers are effectively lowered, and this is helpful in forming the subsequent epitaxial layer. In practice, laser can be used as the means of energy excitation, and the present invention imposes no limitations on the excitation means. When performing an epitaxial manufacturing process based on the technical features of the present invention, a manufacturer may change the means of energy excitation according to product requirements and process conditions. For instance, thermal excitation or excitation by other means is equally applicable. All changes conceivable by a person skilled in the art should be viewed as equivalent variations of the present invention and as not departing from the scope of the present invention. - Referring to
FIG. 4 , upon completion of the foregoing step, chemical vapor deposition is carried out by, as in this embodiment, introducing a titanium compound (i.e., an organic metal compound) and ammonia (i.e., a reactant gas). Thetitanium ions 130 of the titanium compound are guided in the directions of the electric dipoles of the danglingbonds 121 and are uniformly bound to the danglingbonds 121. In addition, referring toFIG. 5 , thenitrogen ions 131 of the ammonia (NH3) are bound to thetitanium ions 130 by ionic bonding. Thus, a titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 (i.e., a compound epitaxial layer) is formed. In this preferred embodiment, tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium (TDMAT) is used as the organic metal compound, and ammonia (NH3) as the reactant gas. With TDMAT being only one example of organic metal compounds, applicable organic metal compounds are by no means limited thereto. A manufacturer may change the composition of the organic metal compound according to the manufacturing process used and product design requirements. Apart from that, phosphine (PH3), water (H2O), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or arsine (AsH3) may also be used as the reactant gas in order to produce a compound epitaxial layer containing the element phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic. All changes in materials readily conceivable by a person skilled in the art should fall within the scope of the present invention. - Referring to
FIG. 5 , the technical features of the present invention are such that, owing to the strong polarity of the danglingbonds 121 and the specific directions of the electric dipole attraction of the danglingbonds 121, not only are epitaxial barriers lowered, but also thetitanium ions 130 of the titanium compound are guided in the correct directions to be uniformly bound to the danglingbonds 121, with a strong bonding force between thetitanium ions 130 and the danglingbonds 121. Moreover, the binding between, and the arrangement of, thenitrogen ions 131 and thetitanium ions 130 are rendered uniform, thanks to the electric dipoles that enable automatic adjustment of the direction of contact between thenitrogen ions 131 and thetitanium ions 130. Therefore, the titaniumnitride epitaxial layer 13 formed according to the present invention has high quality, high hardness and excellent spectrum absorption features. Further, as the titaniumnitride epitaxial layer 13, the unsaturatedionic bond layer 12 and thecontact layer 11 are bound together by chemical bonding, with a bond strength far greater than the binding strength conventionally achieved by physical contact, delamination of the different layers is effectively prevented. Not only that, since the present invention does not need the complicated buffer structure conventionally required, the reduced complexity of the manufacturing process lowers production costs while the reduced use of chemicals contributes to environmental protection. - Using KLA-Tenor's testing machine RS75, the inventor conducted a four-point probe test on a product made by the method of the preferred embodiment, and the product under test could not be pierced. Given that the probe is made of tungsten carbide, whose Mohs hardness ranges from 8.5 to 9.0, the epitaxy product of the present invention possesses the characteristic of a superhard material. Also, a thickness test was performed with THERMA WAVE's measuring machine OP2600 in the DUV (deep ultraviolet) mode, and yet the correct thickness could not be obtained. This means that the reflectivity of the product is less than 13% and that the product is highly absorptive in the DUV range. An additional SEM (scanning electron microscope) thickness check shows that the thickness of the titanium
nitride epitaxial layer 13 is 30±0.1 nm, wherein the thickness uniformity (0.1+30) is less than 0.35% and complies with the thickness uniformity requirement for epitaxy, i.e., less than 1.0%. - To sum up, with the electric dipole attraction of the dangling
bonds 121 serving to guide and arrange the titanium ions 130 (i.e., the metal ions) and the nitrogen ions 131 (i.e., the anions of the reactant gas) in the correct directions during the formation of the titanium nitride epitaxial layer 13 (i.e., the compound epitaxial layer), mirror-like planar crystals can be successfully formed without island-type nucleation or cluster growth, which are two structural characteristics of columnar crystals. A manufacturer can therefore produce mirror-like planar crystals without using the expensive MBE manufacturing process, and product yield can be significantly increased while production costs are lowered. - While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.
Claims (15)
1. A method for forming a compound epitaxial layer by chemical bonding, comprising the steps of:
forming a contact layer on a substrate;
chemically reacting atoms on a surface of the contact layer with non-metal atoms at a temperature of 200° C. or above, such that the non-metal atoms form non-metal ions, the non-metal ions being bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer by chemical bonding and thus forming an unsaturated ionic bond layer on the surface of the contact layer;
exciting the non-metal ions by energy excitation, such that unpaired electrons of the non-metal ions that have not been bound to the atoms on the surface of the contact layer become dangling bonds; and
conducting chemical vapor deposition by introducing an organic metal compound and a reactant gas, wherein metal ions of the organic metal compound are guided by electric dipole attraction of the dangling bonds and bound to the dangling bonds, and wherein anions of the reactant gas are bound to the metal ions by ionic bonding, such that a compound epitaxial layer is formed.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact layer is a metal layer made of titanium, tantalum, aluminum, zinc, scandium, zirconium or magnesium.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact layer is an amphoteric-element layer made of boron or silicon.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the non-metal atoms chemically reacting with the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen or sulfur atoms.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the non-metal atoms chemically reacting with the atoms on the surface of the contact layer are nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen or sulfur atoms.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the reactant gas is ammonia, phosphine, water, hydrogen sulfide or arsine so as to produce a said compound epitaxial layer containing the element nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the reactant gas is ammonia, phosphine, water, hydrogen sulfide or arsine so as to produce a said compound epitaxial layer containing the element nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur or arsenic.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the organic metal compound is tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the organic metal compound is tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the substrate is a silicon wafer or is made of fused quartz, copper-molybdenum alloy, tungsten or titanium.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is a silicon wafer or is made of fused quartz, copper-molybdenum alloy, tungsten or titanium.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of exciting the non-metal ions comprises exciting the non-metal ions by laser excitation.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of exciting the non-metal ions comprises exciting the non-metal ions by laser excitation.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of exciting the non-metal ions comprises exciting the non-metal ions by thermal excitation.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of exciting the non-metal ions comprises exciting the non-metal ions by thermal excitation.
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