Method for producing high yield electrical contacts to N+ amorphous silicon

• US 4,774,207 A
• Filed: 04/20/1987
• Issued: 09/27/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Possin, George E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weisstuch, Aaron
• Application Number:
  US07/039,854
• Time in Patent Office: 526 Days
• Field of Search: 437/4, 437/180, 437/187, 437/228, 437/245, 204/192.15, 156/662, 156/664
• US Class Current: 438/597
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/28512 on semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 438/974 Substrate surface preparation

Abstract

Electrical contact to doped amorphous silicon material is enhanced by depositing a thin layer of molybdenum on the amorphous silicon surface and subsequently removing it. This treatment is found to permanently alter the silicon surface so as to facilitate and improve electrical contact to the silicon material by subsequently deposited metallization layers for source and drain electrode attachment. The layer of molybdenum which is deposited and removed need only be approximately 50 nanometers in thickness to produce desirable results. The method is particularly useful in the fabrication of thin film, inverted, amorphous silicon field effect transistors. Furthermore, such devices are particularly useful in the fabrication of liquid crystal display systems employing such field effect transistors in matrix addressed arrays used for switching individually selected pixel elements.

Claims

1. A method for treating an N⁺ amorphous silicon surface to enhance electrical contact with said surface, said method comprising the steps of:

depositing a layer of molybdenum on said N⁺ amorphous silicon surface; and

removing said molybdenum layer.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said removal is performed by chemical etching.

3. The method of claim 2 in which the etching employed is a mixture of phosphoric, acetic and nitric acids in an aqueous solution.

4. The method of claim 1 in which said molybdenum layer deposited is between about 10 and 100 nanometers thick.

5. The method of claim 4 in which said molybdenum layer is approximately 50 nanometers thick.

6. The method of claim 1 further including a step of metal deposition at least on said amorphous silicon surface from which molybdenum has been removed.

7. The method of claim 6 further including a step of patterned removal of said second deposited metal.

8. The method of claim 6 in which said second deposited metal is molybdenum.

9. The method of claim 1 in which said layer of molybdenum is deposited by sputtering.