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Ion Deposition

Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material can be implanted into another solid, thereby changing the physical properties of the solid. Ion implantation is used in semiconductor device fabrication and in metal finishing, as well as various applications in materials science research. The ions introduce both a chemical change in the target, in that they can be a different element than the target, and a structural change, in that the crystal structure of the target can be damaged or even destroyed.

Ion implantation setup with mass separator

Ion implantation equipment typically consists of an ion source, where ions of the desired element are produced, an accelerator, where the ions are electrostatically accelerated to a high energy, and a target chamber, where the ions impinge on a target, which is the material to be implanted. Each ion is typically a single atom, and thus the actual amount of material implanted in the target is the integral over time of the ion current. This amount is called the dose. The currents supplied by implanters are typically small (microamperes), and thus the dose which can be implanted in a reasonable amount of time is small. Thus, ion implantation finds application in cases where the amount of chemical change required is small.

Typical ion energies are in the range of 2 to 500 keV (1,600 to 80,000 aJ). Energies in the range 1 to 10 keV (160 to 1,600 aJ) can be used, but result in a penetration of only a few nanometers or less. Energies lower than this result in very little damage to the target, and fall under the designation ion beam deposition. Higher energies can also be used: accelerators capable of 5 MeV (800,000 aJ) are common. However, there is often great structural damage to the target, and because the depth distribution is broad, the net composition change at any point in the target will be small.

The energy of the ions, as well as the ion species and the composition of the target determine the depth of penetration of the ions in the solid: A monoenergetic ion beam will generally have a broad depth distribution. The average penetration depth is called the range of the ions. Under typical circumstances ion ranges will be between 10 nanometers and 1 micrometer. Thus, ion implantation is especially useful in cases where the chemical or structural change is desired to be near the surface of the target. Ions gradually lose their energy as they travel through the solid, both from occasional collisions with target atoms (which cause abrupt energy transfers) and from a mild drag from overlap of electron orbitals, which is a continuous process. The loss of ion energy in the target is called stopping.

Application in semiconductor device fabrication:

Doping

The introduction of dopants in a semiconductor is the most common application of ion implantation. Dopant ions such as boron, phosphorus or arsenic are generally created from a gas source, so that the purity of the source can be very high. These gases tend to be very hazardous. When implanted in a semiconductor, each dopant atom creates a charge carrier in the semiconductor (hole or electron, depending on if it is a p-type or n-type dopant), thus modifying the conductivity of the semiconductor in its vicinity.

Silicon on insulator

One prominent method for preparing SOI substrates from conventional silicon substrates is the SIMOX (Separation by IMplantation of OXygen) process, wherein a buried high dose oxygen implant is converted to silicon oxide by a high temperature annealing process.

Wafer bonding is an alternative method for preparing SOI, where a thermally or chemically oxidized silicon substrate is physically bonded to a second substrate, after which the second substrate is partially removed, leaving behind an active region of a specified thickness. While second substrate removal is commonly achieved via conventional etch or polish techniques, the SmartCut method developed by SOITEC employs ion implantation followed by substrate cleavage to determine the thickness of the remaining substrate.

Mesotaxy

Mesotaxy is the term for the growth of a crystallographically matching phase underneath the surface of the host crystal (compare to epitaxy, which is the growth of the matching phase on the surface of a substrate). In this process, ions are implanted at a high enough energy and dose into a material to create a layer of a second phase, and the temperature is controlled so that the crystal structure of the target is not destroyed. The crystal orientation of the layer can be engineered to match that of the target, even though the exact crystal structure and lattice constant may be very different. For example, after the implantation of nickel ions into a silicon wafer, a layer of nickel silicide can be grown in which the crystal orientation of the silicide matches that of the silicon.

Used, Surplus & Refurbished Ion Deposition Equipment in our inventory

Applied Materials
Axcelis
Varian

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Ion Deposition

Ion implantation setup with mass separator

Application in semiconductor device fabrication:

Used, Surplus & Refurbished Ion Deposition Equipment in our inventory