Semiconductor dopant source
US4749615A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jun 7, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 31, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/24997
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Semiconductor dopant sources are prepared by mixing particles of elemental silicon and at least one dopant oxide and heating the mixture to a temperature sufficient to initiate a reduction reaction while excluding external oxygen sources from affecting the reaction. The reaction can be initiated in a furnace, provided the gaseous ambient is controlled, or can be initiated in air if the mixture is heated sufficiently rapidly, e.g. by heating with electromagnetic energy at microwave frequencies. The dopant source produced includes a fused, amorphous matrix of silicon-oxygen-dopant atoms containing inclusions of elemental dopant and, preferably, inclusions of elemental silicon. Embodiments of sources prepared from antimony trioxide slowly evolve antimony, have a long life and repeatedly and predictably dope silicon at commerically useful levels.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.