Abstract: A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor device is made by forming a layer of single crystalline silicon on the surface of an insulating substrate. Portions of the silicon layer are removed, such as by etching, to form islands of the single crystalline silicon on the substrate with the islands having sharp corners between their side walls and their top surface. The silicon islands are then exposed to vapors of hydrogen chloride which etch the corners and form the islands with smooth, rounded corners between the side walls and the top surface.

Abstract: A semiconductor device having a layer of semiconductor material disposed on an insulating substrate is disclosed. Source and drain depth extenders are provided within the semiconductor material for extending the respective source and drain regions to the insulating substrate. This device is fabricated in a manner which minimizes damage to the gate oxide layer that often occurs when high energy implants are used to form self-aligned source and drain regions.

Abstract: A semiconductor device having a layer of semiconductor material disposed on an insulating substrate is disclosed. A means is provided within the insulating substrate for minimizing the collection of radiation-induced charge carriers at the interface between the layer of semiconductor material and the insulating substrate. This means significantly reduces the accumulation of positive charges in the insulating substrate which would otherwise cause back-channel leakage when the device is operated after being irradiated. Also, the means minimizes the collection of charge carriers injected from the insulating substrate into the semiconductor device disposed on the insulating substrate. A method of fabricating this semiconductor device is also disclosed.

Abstract: A MOS/SOI field-effect transistor is made by applying a layer of a photoresist over the surface of a single-crystalline silicon layer which is on a substrate of an insulating material, such as sapphire. The surface of the silicon layer is along a (100) crystallographic plane. The photoresist layer is defined to provide an area of the photoresist layer over the area of the silicon layer where the transistor is to be formed with the edges of the photoresist area being along the edges of (100) crystallographic planes which are perpendicular to the surface of the silicon layer. The portion of the silicon layer around the photoresist layer is etched with an anisotropic plasma etch which etches the silicon layer along the (100) crystallographic planes which are perpendicular to the surface of the silicon layer to form an island of the silicon.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a low-resistivity polycrystalline silicon film deposited on a substrate comprises the steps of doping the polycrystalline silicon film with boron in situ while depositing the film, to a concentration greater than 1.times.10.sup.20 atoms/cm.sup.3, and then irradiating the film with a laser pulse. The present method may be utilized to fabricate a polycrystalline silicon film having a relatively small temperature coefficient of resistivity by electrically connecting a first irradiated part of the film with a second non-irradiated part in a manner allowing the two parts, having different temperature coefficients of resistivity, to compensate each other.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to methods of producing thin layers of silicon as well as thin layers of silicon on insulating substrates such as silicon dioxide or polycrystalline silicon by forming either an n- layer of single crystal silicon over a p++ layer of single crystal silicon or a p- layer of single crystal silicon over an n++ layer of single crystal silicon and then removing either the n++ or p++ single crystal substrate, as the case may be, by utilizing an etch which will only etch the n++ or p++ region and will stop when the n- or p- region, as the case may be, has been reached.