METHOD OF THERMAL PROCESSING STRUCTURES FORMED ON A SUBSTRATE
First Claim
1. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
- modifying one or more regions in a substrate formed from a first material by disposing a second material within the one or more regions, wherein modifying one or more regions in a substrate with the second material is adapted to lower the melting point of the first material contained within the one or more regions;
disposing a third material within the one or more regions in the substrate; and
delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to a surface of a substrate which is in thermal communication with the one or more regions, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy is adapted to cause the first material within the one or more regions to melt.
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Abstract
The present invention generally describes one or more apparatuses and various methods that are used to perform an annealing process on desired regions of a substrate. 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.
103 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
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modifying one or more regions in a substrate formed from a first material by disposing a second material within the one or more regions, wherein modifying one or more regions in a substrate with the second material is adapted to lower the melting point of the first material contained within the one or more regions; disposing a third material within the one or more regions in the substrate; and delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to a surface of a substrate which is in thermal communication with the one or more regions, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy is adapted to cause the first material within the one or more regions to melt. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
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providing a substrate that has one or more first regions that have been modified so that the melting point of the material contained within each of the first regions melts at a lower temperature than the material contained within a second region of the substrate, wherein the second region and each of the first regions are generally adjacent to a surface of the substrate; depositing a coating over the surface of the substrate, wherein the coating has a different absorption and reflection coefficient than that surface of the substrate; removing a portion of the coating from the surface of the substrate that is generally adjacent to each of the first regions or the second region; and delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to an area on the surface of the substrate that contains the one or more first regions and the second region, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy preferentially melts the material within the one or more first regions. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of thermally processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
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providing a substrate formed from a substrate material; forming a buried region made of a first material on a surface of the substrate, wherein the first material has a first thermal conductivity; depositing a second layer made of a second material over the buried region, wherein the second material has a second thermal conductivity; forming a semiconductor device on the surface of the substrate, wherein a portion of the formed semiconductor device contains a portion of the second layer; and delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to a surface of a substrate which is in thermal communication with the second layer, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy is adapted to cause a portion of the second material in thermal communication with the buried region to reach its melting point. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
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positioning a substrate on a substrate support, wherein the substrate has a plurality of features formed on a surface of the substrate that contain a first region and a second region; depositing a coating over the first and second regions, wherein the material from which the coating is formed has a desired heat capacity; removing a portion of the coating so that the thickness of the coating over the first region has a desired thickness, wherein the average heat capacity across the substrate surface after removing a portion of the coating is generally uniform; and delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to an area that contains the first region and the second region, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy causes the material within the first region to melt. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
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providing a substrate that has a first feature and a second feature formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the second feature contains a first region and a second region; positioning the substrate on a substrate support; depositing a coating over the first and second features; removing a portion of the coating so that the coating is disposed over the second region and a surface of the first feature is exposed; and delivering an amount of electromagnetic energy to an area that contains the first feature and the second feature, wherein the amount of electromagnetic energy causes the material within the first region of the second feature to melt. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
delivering a first amount of electromagnetic energy at one or more desired wavelengths to a rear surface of the substrate to cause a material in one or more regions generally adjacent to a front surface of the substrate to melt, wherein the rear surface and the front surface are on opposite sides of the substrate and the front surface of the substrate contains one or more semiconductor devices formed thereon. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of thermally processing a substrate, comprising:
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delivering a first amount of electromagnetic energy to a first region on a surface of a substrate, wherein the first amount of electromagnetic energy causes the substrate material within the first region to melt and cause the crystalline substrate material to become amorphous; implanting a second material within the amorphous first region; and delivering a second amount of electromagnetic energy to the first region, wherein the second amount of electromagnetic energy causes the material within the first regions to melt. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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Specification