Including Heat Treatment Patents (Class 438/522)
  • Patent number: 7419892
    Abstract: Methods of forming a semiconductor device include forming a protective layer on a semiconductor layer, implanting ions having a first conductivity type through the protective layer into the semiconductor layer to form an implanted region of the semiconductor layer, and annealing the semiconductor layer and the protective layer to activate the implanted ions. An opening is formed in the protective layer to expose the implanted region of the semiconductor layer, and an electrode is formed in the opening. A semiconductor structure includes a Group III-nitride semiconductor layer, a protective layer on the semiconductor layer, a distribution of implanted dopants within the semiconductor layer, and an ohmic contact extending through the protective layer to the semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott T. Sheppard, Adam Saxler
  • Patent number: 7396747
    Abstract: The present invention provides semiconductor structures and a method of fabricating such structures for application of MOSFET devices. The semiconductor structures are fabricated in such a way so that the layer structure in the regions of the wafer where n-MOSFETs are fabricated is different from the layer structure in regions of the wafers where p-MOSFETs are fabricated. The structures are fabricated by first forming a damaged region with a surface of a Si-containing substrate by ion implanting of a light atom such as He. A strained SiGe alloy is then formed on the Si-containing substrate containing the damaged region. An annealing step is then employed to cause substantial relaxation of the strained SiGe alloy via a defect initiated strain relaxation. Next, a strained semiconductor cap such as strained Si is formed on the relaxed SiGe alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Diane C. Boyd, Juan Cai, Kevin K. Chan, Patricia M. Mooney, Kern Rim
  • Patent number: 7396717
    Abstract: A method of forming a MOS transistor, in which a co-implantation is performed to implant an implant into a source region and a drain region or a halo implanted region to effectively prevent dopants from over diffusion in the source region and the drain region or the halo implanted region, for obtaining a good junction profile and improving short channel effect. The implant comprises carbon, a hydrocarbon, or a derivative of the hydrocarbon, such as one selected from a group consisting of C, Chd xHy+, and (CxHy)n+, wherein x is a number of 1 to 10, y is a number of 4 to 20, and n is a number of 1 to 1000.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Hsiang-Ying Wang, Chin-Cheng Chien, Tsai-Fu Hsiao, Ming-Yen Chien, Chao-Chun Chen
  • Patent number: 7329614
    Abstract: An aspect of the present invention provides an ohmic electrode that includes an SiC (silicon carbide) substrate, an impurity region selectively formed in a surface of the SiC substrate, an insulating film formed on the surface of the SiC substrate, a contact hole opened through the insulating film, to expose a surface of the impurity region, a conductive thermal reaction layer formed in the contact hole in contact with the impurity region, a conductive plug formed to fill the contact hole, an metal wiring formed on the insulating film and electrically coupled to the plug, and a diffusion preventive layer formed between the metal wiring and the plug to electrically couple the plug with the metal wiring, the diffusion preventive layer configured to prevent the diffusion of metal atoms from the metal wiring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2008
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Satoshi Tanimoto
  • Publication number: 20070269968
    Abstract: Methods of forming semiconductor devices are provided by forming a semiconductor layer on a semiconductor substrate. A mask is formed on the semiconductor layer. Ions having a first conductivity type are implanted into the semiconductor layer according to the mask to form implanted regions on the semiconductor layer. Metal layers are formed on the implanted regions according to the mask. The implanted regions and the metal layers are annealed in a single step to respectively activate the implanted ions in the implanted regions and provide ohmic contacts on the implanted regions. Related devices are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2006
    Publication date: November 22, 2007
    Inventors: Adam William Saxler, Scott Sheppard
  • Patent number: 7285497
    Abstract: A mask includes a silicon member, and a portion defining an opening penetrating the silicon member; and the corner of the opening is rounded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Shinichi Yotsuya
  • Patent number: 7276431
    Abstract: An structure for electrically isolating a semiconductor device is formed by implanting dopant into a semiconductor substrate that does not include an epitaxial layer. Following the implant the structure is exposed to a very limited thermal budget so that dopant does not diffuse significantly. As a result, the dimensions of the isolation structure are limited and defined, thereby allowing a higher packing density than obtainable using conventional processes which include the growth of an epitaxial layer and diffusion of the dopants. In one group of embodiments, the isolation structure includes a deep layer and a sidewall which together form a cup-shaped structure surrounding an enclosed region in which the isolated semiconductor device may be formed. The sidewalls may be formed by a series of pulsed implants at different energies, thereby creating a stack of overlapping implanted regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2007
    Assignees: Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc., Advanced Analogic Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited
    Inventors: Richard K. Williams, Michael E. Cornell, Wai Tien Chan
  • Patent number: 7273800
    Abstract: The present invention provides semiconductor structures and a method of fabricating such structures for application of MOSFET devices. The semiconductor structures are fabricated in such a way so that the layer structure in the regions of the wafer where n-MOSFETs are fabricated is different from the layer structure in regions of the wafers where p-MOSFETs are fabricated. The structures are fabricated by first forming a damaged region with a surface of a Si-containing substrate by ion implanting of a light atom such as He. A strained SiGe alloy is then formed on the Si-containing substrate containing the damaged region. An annealing step is then employed to cause substantial relaxation of the strained SiGe alloy via a defect initiated strain relaxation. Next, a strained semiconductor cap such as strained Si is formed on the relaxed SiGe alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2007
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Diane C. Boyd, Juan Cai, Kevin K. Chan, Patricia M. Mooney, Kern Rim
  • Patent number: 7268065
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a microelectronic device including forming an opening in a dielectric layer located over a substrate, forming a semi-conductive layer substantially conforming to the opening, and forming a conductive layer substantially conforming to the semi-conductive layer. At least a portion of the semi-conductive layer is doped by implanting through the conductive layer. The semi-conductive layer and the conductive layer may then be annealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chen-Tung Lin, Chih-Wei Chang, Chii-Ming Wu, Mei-Yun Wang, Chiang-Ming Chuang, Shau-Lin Shue
  • Patent number: 7259094
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device is disclosed which comprises a chamber which holds a to-be-processed substrate having a film containing at least one kind of metal element which will become a component of a volatile metal compound, a heater which heats the substrate held in the chamber, and an adsorbent which is provided in the chamber and which adsorbs the volatile metal compound generated from the film by heating the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2007
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Katsuaki Natori, Keisuke Nakazawa, Koji Yamakawa, Hiroyuki Kanaya, Yoshinori Kumura, Hiroshi Itokawa, Osamu Arisumi
  • Patent number: 7235469
    Abstract: A semiconductor device suitable for the miniaturization and comprising properly controlled Si/SiGe gate electrode comprises an insulator formed on a semiconductor substrate, a first gate electrode formed on the insulator and including silicon-germanium, wherein a germanium concentration is higher near an interface to the insulator and lower in a surface side opposite to the insulator, and a second gate electrode formed on the insulator and including silicon-germanium, wherein a germanium concentration is substantially uniform and an n-type dopant of a concentration of above 6×1020 atoms/cm3 is contained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yasunori Okayama, Kiyotaka Miyano, Kazunari Ishimaru
  • Patent number: 7223615
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to controlling wafer temperature during rapid thermal processing. Regions and devices in an integrated circuit may be surrounded, inlayed, and overlaid with high absorptive structures to increase the average absorptivity of a region. This technique is useful for increasing average absorptivity in dense capacitive regions of integrated circuits. These dense capacitive regions typically have large areas of exposed low absorptivity polysilicon during rapid thermal processing steps. The exposed low absorptivity regions absorb less energy than other regions of the integrated circuit. As such, the RTP temperature varies between regions of the integrated circuit, causing variance in device size and characteristics. Adding absorptivity structures increase the absorption of energy in these regions, reducing temperature variance during RTP. The reduced temperature variance results in uniform manufacture of device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2007
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Edward E. Ehrichs
  • Patent number: 7199030
    Abstract: An impurity is ion-implanted with a silicon nitride film formed on a silicon substrate as a mask film to form a source/drain layer of a MOS transistor. Heat treatment for activating the impurity is done as it is without removing the silicon nitride film to thereby produce heat treatment-based stress between the silicon nitride film and the silicon substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2007
    Assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ikeda, Yutaka Kamata, Ikuo Kurachi, Norio Hirashita
  • Patent number: 7129141
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a DRAM device includes the step of implanting phosphor at a specified dosage and heat treating the implanted phosphor for diffusion thereof to form source/drain regions, and implanting fluorine into the source/drain regions and heat treating the implanted fluorine for diffusion thereof. The resultant DRAM memory cell has a larger data storage capability due to lower junction leakage current caused by vacancy type defects formed in the metallurgical junction between the source/drain regions and the channel region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Elpida Memory, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyonori Oyu, Kensuke Okonogi
  • Patent number: 7105414
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a MOS transistor capable of suppressing a short channel effect by suppressing boron (B) ion diffusion in the MOS transistor. The method includes steps of: forming an impurity diffusion suppressing layer in an active region of a semiconductor substrate; forming an impurity layer containing boron ions in a lower portion of the impurity diffusion suppressing layer; and thermally treating on the substrate, wherein the impurity diffusion suppressing layer suppresses diffusion of the boron ions during the thermal treatment step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignee: Dongbu Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hak-Dong Kim
  • Patent number: 7091114
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising implanting ions of an impurity element into a semiconductor region, implanting, into the semiconductor region, ions of a predetermined element which is a group IV element or an element having the same conductivity type as the impurity element and larger in mass number than the impurity element, and irradiating a region into which the impurity element and the predetermined element are implanted with light to anneal the region, the light having an emission intensity distribution, a maximum point of the distribution existing in a wavelength region of not more than 600 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2006
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takayuki Ito, Toshihiko Iinuma, Kyoichi Suguro
  • Patent number: 7084051
    Abstract: A purpose of the invention is to provide a manufacturing method for a semiconductor substrate in which a high quality strained silicon channel can easily be formed without sacrificing the processing efficiency of a wafer and to provide a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device wherein the driving performance of a PMOS transistor, in addition to that of an NMOS transistor, can be improved. The invention provides a manufacturing method for a semiconductor substrate with the steps of: forming a SiGe film on the top surface of a substrate having a silicon monocrystal layer in the (111) or (110) plane direction as the surface layer; introducing buried crystal defects into the above described substrate by carrying out ion implantation and annealing treatment; and forming a semiconductor film on the above described SiGe film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2006
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takashi Ueda
  • Patent number: 7078300
    Abstract: A method for producing thin, below 6 nm of equivalent oxide thickness, germanium oxynitride layer on Ge-based materials for use as gate dielectric is disclosed. The method involves a two step process. First, nitrogen is incorporated in a surface layer of the Ge-based material. Second, the nitrogen incorporation is followed by an oxidation step. The method yields excellent thickness control of high quality gate dielectrics for Ge-based field effect devices, such as MOS transistors. Structures of devices having the thin germanium oxynitride gate dielectric and processors made with such devices are disclosed, as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Evgeni Gousev, Huiling Shang, Christopher P. D'Emic, Paul M. Kozlowski
  • Patent number: 7056815
    Abstract: A method for forming a semi-conductor material is provided that comprises forming a donor substrate constructed of GaAs, providing a receiver substrate, implanting nitrogen into the donor substrate to form an implanted layer comprising GaAs and nitrogen. The implanted layer is bonded to the receiver substrate and annealed to form GaAsN and nitrogen micro-blisters in the implanted layer. The micro-blisters allow the implanted layer to be cleaved from the donor substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of Michigan
    Inventors: Xiaojun Weng, Rachel S. Goldman
  • Patent number: 7041530
    Abstract: A method of the production of a nanoparticle dispersed composite material capable of controlling a particle size and a three dimensional arrangement of the nanoparticles is provided. The method of the production of a nanoparticle dispersed composite material of the present invention includes a step (a) of arranging a plurality of core fine particle-protein complexes having a core fine particle, which comprises an inorganic material, internally included within a protein on the top surface of a substrate, a step (b) of removing the protein, a step (c) of conducting ion implantation from the top surface of the substrate, and a step (d) of forming nanoparticles including the ion implanted by the ion implantation as a raw material, inside of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Nunoshita, Ichiro Yamashita, Shigeo Yoshii
  • Patent number: 7026230
    Abstract: The present invention is a method for fabricating a memory device. In one embodiment, an impurity concentration is created in a semiconductor substrate of a memory device. An annealing process is then performed. A second impurity concentration is created in a second region of the semiconductor substrate and a second annealing process is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Dong-Hyuk Ju
  • Patent number: 7026229
    Abstract: A method and system to achieve shallow junctions using Electromagnetic Induction Heating (EMIH) that can be preceded or followed by a low-temperature Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) process. The methods and systems can use, for example, RF or microwave frequencies to induce electromagnetic fields that can induce currents to flow within the silicon wafer, thus causing ohmic collisions between electrons and the lattice structure that heat the wafer volumetrically rather than through the surface. Such EMIH heating can activate the dopant material. Defects in the silicon structure can be repaired by combining the EMIH annealing with a low-temperature (approximately 500–800 degrees Celsius) RTA that causes minimal diffusion, thus minimizing the difference between the as-implanted junction depth and the post-annealing junction depth when compared to annealing methods that only use traditional RTA.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: Vartan Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel F. Downey, Edwin A. Arevalo
  • Patent number: 7005340
    Abstract: A method is provided for manufacturing a semiconductor device that can reduce the number of steps in manufacturing a triple-well that includes multiple ion implantation steps and heat treatment steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2006
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Masahiro Hayashi
  • Patent number: 6984538
    Abstract: A process for shifting the bandgap energy of a quantum well layer (e.g., a III-V semiconductor quantum well layer) without inducing complex crystal defects or generating significant free carriers. The process includes introducing ions into a quantum well structure at an elevated temperature, for example, in the range of from about 200° C. to about 700° C. The quantum well structure that has had ions introduced therein includes upper and lower barrier layers with quantum well layers therebetween. The quantum well structure is then pre-annealed at a temperature and time that does not induce quantum well intermixing, but does diffuse the point defects closer to the quantum well layer. Finally, the structure is thermally annealed at a higher temperature to induce quantum well intermixing (QWI) in the quantum well structure, which shifts the bandgap energy of the quantum well layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2006
    Assignee: Phosistor Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Boon-Siew Ooi, Ruiyu Wang
  • Patent number: 6979618
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a NAND flash device which can improve uniformity of disturb fail characteristics by performing an annealing process after an ion implantation process for forming a P well, reduce a fail bit count by performing an annealing process after an ion implantation process for controlling a threshold voltage and before a process for forming a high voltage gate oxide film, and prevent disturb fail by omitting an STI ion implantation process in a cell region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2005
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Young Ki Shin
  • Patent number: 6977408
    Abstract: An EEPROM device exhibiting high saturation current and low signal propagation delay and a process for fabricating the device that includes the formation of refractory metal silicide regions in the source and the drain regions and the gate electrode of an MOS transistor within an EEPROM memory cell. A floating-gate protect layer is formed over the floating-gate electrode and a relatively thick cap oxide layer is formed to overlie the floating-gate protect layer and the source and drain regions and gate electrode of the MOS transistor. A doped oxide layer is formed to overlie the cap oxide layer. The cap oxide layer is formed to a thickness sufficient to create strain in the channel region of the MOS transistor, while not having a thickness that could cause poor data retention in the EEPROM memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Lattice Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Chih-Chuan Lin, Sunil D. Mehta
  • Patent number: 6964917
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for producing highly uniform semi-insulating characteristics in single crystal silicon carbide for semiconductor applications. The method includes irradiating a silicon carbide single crystal having net p-type doping and deep levels with neutrons until the concentration of 31P equals or exceeds the original net p-type doping while remaining equal to or less than the sum of the concentration of deep levels and the original net p-type doping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Cree, Inc.
    Inventors: Valeri F. Tsvetkov, Hudson M. Hobgood, Calvin H. Carter, Jr., Jason R. Jenny
  • Patent number: 6936526
    Abstract: A method of disordering a quantum well heterostructure, including the step of irradiating the heterostructure with a particle beam, wherein the energy of the beam is such that the beam creates a substantially constant distribution of defects within the heterostructure. The irradiating particles can be ions or electrons, and the energy is preferably such that the irradiating particles pass through the heterostructure. Light ions such as hydrogen ions are preferred because they are readily available and produce substantially uniform distributions of point defects at relatively low energies. The method can be used to tune the wavelength range of an optoelectronic device including such a heterostructure, such as a photodetector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: The Australian National University
    Inventors: Lan Fu, Hark Hoe Tan, Chennupati Jagadish
  • Patent number: 6933214
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. A monoatomic dopant having a high atomic weight is implanted to form an ion implantation layer, instead of using a dopant of a small atomic weight such as B or a molecular ion such as a BF2 in order to control the threshold voltage of the semiconductor device. Therefore, in an annealing process for mitigating damage caused by ion implantation, it is possible to limit TED (transient enhanced diffusion) of the dopant and prevent degradation of the film quality due to outgasing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2005
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Noh Yeal Kwak
  • Patent number: 6929831
    Abstract: A silicon nitride film, for example, is deposited by introducing into a plasma region of a chamber a silicon containing gas, molecular nitrogen and sufficient hydrogen to dissociate the nitrogen to allow the silicon and nitrogen to react to form a silicon nitride film on a surface adjacent the plasma region. The thus deposited film may then be subjected to an activation anneal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: Trikon Holdings Limited
    Inventors: Jashu Patel, Knut Beekman
  • Patent number: 6921709
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit having a gate structure above a substrate that includes germanium utilizes at least one layer as a seal. The layer advantageously can prevent back sputtering and outdiffusion. A transistor can be formed in the substrate by doping through the layer. Another layer can be provided below the first layer. Layers of silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, titanium, titanium nitride, titanium/titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, and silicon carbide can be used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric N. Paton, Haihong Wang, Qi Xiang
  • Patent number: 6903005
    Abstract: A method for use in the fabrication of integrated circuits is provided, which includes providing a substrate assembly having a surface. A diffusion barrier layer is formed over at least a portion of the surface. The diffusion barrier layer is formed of RuSixOy, where x and y are in the range of about 0.01 to about 10. The barrier layer may be formed by depositing RuSixOy by chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, or physical vapor deposition or the barrier layer may be formed by forming a layer of ruthenium or ruthenium oxide over a silicon-containing region and performing an anneal to form RuSixOy from the layer of ruthenium and silicon from the adjacent silicon-containing region. Capacitor electrodes, interconnects or other structures may be formed with such a diffusion barrier layer. Semiconductor structures and devices can be formed to include diffusion barrier layers formed of RuSixOy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Eugene P. Marsh
  • Patent number: 6902992
    Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device having a semiconductor resistance element, which is capable of suppressing a variation in characteristics of the semiconductor resistance element due to an acceptor concentration difficult to be controlled, thereby stably improving the yield of a semiconductor integrated circuit using the semiconductor device. The device includes an n-type semiconductor resistance region formed in the surface of a compound semiconductor substrate, and a p-type buried region formed between the n-type semiconductor resistance region and a substrate region 21S of the compound semiconductor substrate. An acceptor of the p-type buried region is set to be higher than an acceptor concentration in the substrate region and lower than a doner concentration in the n-type semiconductor resistance region, whereby the effect of the acceptor concentration in the substrate on the semiconductor resistance region can be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Tsutomu Imoto
  • Patent number: 6897118
    Abstract: A method for forming a highly activated ultra shallow ion implanted semiconductive elements for use in sub-tenth micron MOSFET technology is described. A key feature of the method is the ability to activate the implanted impurity to a highly active state without permitting the dopant to diffuse further to deepen the junction. A selected single crystalline silicon active region is first amorphized by implanting a heavy ion such as silicon or germanium. A semiconductive impurity for example boron is then implanted and activated by pulsed laser annealing whereby the pulse fluence, frequency, and duration are chosen to maintain the amorphized region just below it's melting temperature. It is found that just below the melting temperature there is sufficient local ion mobility to secure the dopant into active positions within the silicon matrix to achieve a high degree of activation with essentially no change in concentration profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
    Inventors: Chyiu-Hyia Poon, Byung Jin Cho, Yong Feng Lu, Alex See, Mousumi Bhat
  • Patent number: 6884703
    Abstract: At the surface of a substrate a gate oxide layer is produced and is given a dual thickness. A first oxide layer is produced over the surface of a substrate by thermal oxidation and is covered by a mask layer defining suitably located openings. A material accelerating or retarding the oxidation of the substrate is ion implanted through the first oxide layer in the openings, after which the mask is removed and the thermal oxidation is continued over the now exposed total surface of the first oxide layer. The material used for ion implanting can be an oxidation rate promoting material such as chloride and bromine. The manufacturing method is simple and adds little to presently used process flows for fabricating MOS devices. The dual thickness of the gate oxide gives the manufactured MOS device a low level of total noise generated when using the device for instance in RF-circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2005
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Torkel Arnborg, Ted Johansson
  • Patent number: 6878645
    Abstract: Provided is a process for manufacturing a silicon wafer employing heat treatment which is applied on the silicon wafer in inert gas atmosphere represented by Ar annealing to annihilate Grown-in defects in a surface layer region of the silicon wafer as well as to cause no degradation of haze and micro-roughness on a surface thereof. In a process for manufacturing a silicon wafer having a step of heat treating the silicon wafer in inert gas atmosphere, using a purge box with which the silicon wafer heat treated in the inert gas atmosphere can be unloaded to outside a reaction tube of a heat treatment furnace without being put into contact with the open air, the purge box is filled with mixed gas of nitrogen and oxygen or 100% oxygen gas, and the heat treated silicon wafer is unloaded into the purge box.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2005
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Norihiro Kobayashi, Shoji Akiyama, Masaro Tamatsuka, Masaru Shinomiya, Yuichi Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 6872644
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes source and drain contact regions which include a non-compounded combination of a semiconductor material and at least one metal. The metal may include an elemental metal, such as gold or aluminum, or may include an intermetallic. The contact regions may be formed by depositing a limited amount of the at least one metal on a source and a drain of the device, and annealing the device to induce diffusion of the at least one metal into the source and drain. The annealing time and temperature may be selected to limit diffusion of the at least one metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew S. Buynoski, Witold P. Maszara
  • Patent number: 6869897
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, comprising the step of: forming a first buffer Si layer on a substrate having a silicon surface; epitaxially growing, in sequence, a first strained SiGe layer and a first Si layer above the first buffer Si layer; implanting ions into the resulting substrate followed by annealing so as to relax the lattice of the first strained SiGe layer and to thereby providing tensile strain in the first Si layer and so that tensile strain is provided in the first Si layer; and epitaxially growing, in sequence, a second buffer Si layer and a second SiGe layer above the resulting substrate; and forming a second Si layer having tensile strain on the second SiGe layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2005
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masahiro Takenaka
  • Patent number: 6861340
    Abstract: A method of heat-treating a nitride compound semiconductor layer, comprising heating a nitride compound semiconductor layer doped with a p-type impurity at a temperature that is at least 200° C. but less than 400° C. for at least 100 minutes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Motonobu Takeya
  • Patent number: 6818534
    Abstract: A semiconductor memory device comprises a trench etched from a substrate below a shallow trench isolation and a doped collar oxide. The device further comprises a buried-strap junction formed adjacent to the shallow trench isolation and above the collar oxide, and a channel stop formed below the buried-strap junction, wherein a junction between the channel stop and the buried-strap junction is formed in the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2004
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Richmond, LP
    Inventors: Jonathan Philip Davis, Stephen M. Rusinko, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6806153
    Abstract: The present invention allows the manufacturing of field effect transistors with reduced thermal budget. A first amorphized region and a second amorphized region are formed in a substrate adjacent to the gate electrode by implanting ions of a non-doping element, the presence of which does not significantly alter the conductive properties of the substrate. The formation of the amorphized regions may be performed before or after the formation of a source region, a drain region, an extended source region and an extended drain region. The substrate is annealed to achieve solid phase epitaxial regrowth of the amorphized regions and to activate dopants in the source region, the drain region, the extended source region and the extended drain region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Karsten Wieczorek, Manfred Horstmann, Thomas Feudel
  • Patent number: 6797595
    Abstract: A method of heat-treating a nitride compound semiconductor layer, comprising heating a nitride compound semiconductor layer doped with a p-type impurity at a temperature that is at least 200° C. but less than 400° C. for at least 100 minutes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Motonobu Takeya
  • Patent number: 6787449
    Abstract: A method for use in the fabrication of integrated circuits includes providing a substrate assembly having a surface. A diffusion barrier layer is formed over at least a portion of the surface. The diffusion barrier layer is formed of RuSixOy, where x and y are in the range of about 0.01 to about 10. The barrier layer may be formed by depositing RuSixOy by chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, or physical vapor deposition or the barrier layer may be formed by forming a layer of ruthenium or ruthenium oxide over a silicon-containing region and performing an anneal to form RuSixOy from the layer of ruthenium and silicon from the adjacent silicon-containing region. Capacitor electrodes, interconnects or other structures may be formed with such a diffusion barrier layer. Semiconductor structures and devices can be formed to include diffusion barrier layers formed of RuSixOy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2004
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Eugene P. Marsh
  • Patent number: 6784018
    Abstract: A first conductive electrode material is formed on a substrate. Chalcogenide comprising material is formed thereover. The chalcogenide material comprises AxSey. A silver comprising layer is formed over the chalcogenide material. The silver is irradiated effective to break a chalcogenide bond of the chalcogenide material at an interface of the silver comprising layer and chalcogenide material and diffuse at least some of the silver into the chalcogenide material. After the irradiating, the chalcogenide material outer surface is exposed to an iodine comprising fluid effective to reduce roughness of the chalcogenide material outer surface from what it was prior to the exposing. After the exposing, a second conductive electrode material is deposited over the chalcogenide material, and which is continuous and completely covering at least over the chalcogenide material, and the second conductive electrode material is formed into an electrode of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2004
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Kristy A. Campbell, John T. Moore
  • Patent number: 6780796
    Abstract: A method of forming a SiGe layer having a relatively high Ge content includes preparing a silicon substrate; depositing a layer of strained SiGe to a thickness of between about 100 nm to 500 nm, wherein the Ge content of the SiGe layer is equal to or greater than 20%, by molecular weight; implanting H2+ ions into the SiGe layer; irradiating the substrate and SiGe layer, to relax the SiGe layer; and depositing a layer of tensile-strained silicon on the relaxed SiGe layer to a thickness of between about 5 nm to 30 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2004
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventors: Jer-Shen Maa, Jong-Jan Lee, Douglas J. Tweet, Sheng Teng Hsu
  • Patent number: 6756257
    Abstract: A method and structure for forming patterned SOI regions and bulk regions is described wherein a silicon containing layer over an insulator may have a plurality of selected thickness' and wherein bulk regions may be suitable to form DRAM's and SOI regions may be suitable to form merged logic such as CMOS. Ion implantation of oxygen is used to formed patterned buried oxide layers at selected depths and mask edges may be shaped to form stepped oxide regions from one depth to another. Trenches may be formed through buried oxide end regions to remove high concentrations of dislocations in single crystal silicon containing substrates. The invention overcomes the problem of forming DRAM with a storage capacitor formed with a deep, trench in bulk Si while forming merged logic regions on SOI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bijan Davari, Devendra Kumar Sadana, Ghavam G. Shahidi, Sandip Tiwari
  • Patent number: 6743702
    Abstract: A highly reliable semiconductor laser device having a low operating voltage is obtained by increasing adhesive force of the overall electrode layer to a nitride-based semiconductor layer without deteriorating a low contact property. This nitride-based semiconductor laser device comprises a nitride-based semiconductor layer formed on an active layer and an electrode layer formed on the nitride-based semiconductor layer, while the electrode layer includes a first electrode layer containing a material having strong adhesive force to the nitride-based semiconductor layer and a second electrode layer, formed on the first electrode layer, having weaker adhesive force to the nitride-based semiconductor layer than the first electrode layer for reducing contact resistance of the electrode layer with respect to the nitride-based semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takenori Goto, Yasuhiko Nomura, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Kiyoshi Oota
  • Patent number: 6720241
    Abstract: In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, impurity ion is implanted into a semiconductor layer so as to form an ion implantation region in the semiconductor layer, and at least the ion implantation region is turned amorphous. Then, an insulating film is formed on the semiconductor layer at a temperature at which the ion implantation region is not crystallized, and then the semiconductor layer is annealed in a non-oxidizing atmosphere so as to activate the impurity ion implanted into the semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Michikazu Matsumoto, Naohisa Sengoku, Ayumi Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20040067626
    Abstract: An impurity is ion-implanted with a silicon nitride film formed on a silicon substrate as a mask film to form a source/drain layer of a MOS transistor. Heat treatment for activating the impurity is done as it is without removing the silicon nitride film to thereby produce heat treatment-based stress between the silicon nitride film and the silicon substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2003
    Publication date: April 8, 2004
    Inventors: Satoshi Ikeda, Yutaka Kamata, Ikuo Kurachi, Norio Hirashita
  • Patent number: 6713360
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for forming a transistor junction in a semiconductor wafer by implanting a dopant material (116) into the semiconductor wafer, implanting a halo material (110) into the semiconductor wafer (102), selecting a fluorine dose and energy to tailor one or more characteristics of the transistor, implanting fluorine into the semiconductor wafer at the selected dose and energy, activating the dopant material using a thermal process and annealing the semiconductor wafer to remove residual fluorine. The one or more characteristics of the transistor may include halo segregation, halo diffusion, the sharpness of the halo profile, dopant activation, dopant profile sharpness, drive current, bottom wall capacitance or near edge capacitance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Amitabh Jain, Kaiping Liu, Zhiqiang Wu