Method of thermal processing structures formed on a substrate
US8518838B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 21, 2012 |
| Grant date | Aug 27, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 21, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D84/038
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods used to perform an annealing process on desired regions of a substrate are disclosed. In one embodiment, an amount of energy is delivered to the surface of the substrate to preferentially melt certain desired regions of the substrate to remove unwanted damage created from prior processing steps (e.g., crystal damage from implant processes), more evenly distribute dopants in various regions of the substrate, and/or activate various regions of the substrate. The preferential melting processes will allow more uniform distribution of the dopants in the melted region, due to the increased diffusion rate and solubility of the dopant atoms in the molten region of the substrate. The creation of a melted region thus allows: 1) the dopant atoms to redistribute more uniformly, 2) defects created in prior processing steps to be removed, and 3) regions that have hyper-abrupt dopant concentrations to be formed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.