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, and the delivered electromagnetic energy is disposed within an anneal region that has at least one edge that is positioned within a boundary that at least partially surrounds the one or more regions.
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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.
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Citations
25 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, and the delivered electromagnetic energy is disposed within an anneal region that has at least one edge that is positioned within a boundary that at least partially surrounds the one or more regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. 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 (9, 10, 11)
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12. 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 a first amount of electromagnetic energy at one or more desired wavelengths to a rear surface of the substrate to cause the first material in the 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 (13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25)
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17. 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 crystalline substrate material within the first region to melt and causes the crystalline substrate material to become amorphous; implanting a first 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 amorphous substrate material and the first material within the first regions to melt. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. 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; 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; and depositing a coating over the surface of the substrate before delivering the amount of electromagnetic energy, wherein the coating generally has a different absorption and reflection coefficient than the surface of the substrate on which the coating is disposed. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A method of thermally processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising
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; and depositing a coating over the surface of the substrate on which the semiconductor device is formed before delivering the amount of electromagnetic energy, wherein the coating generally has a different absorption and reflection coefficient than the surface of the substrate on which the semiconductor device is formed.
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24. 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 first material within the amorphous first region; delivering a second amount of electromagnetic energy to the first region, wherein the second amount of electromagnetic energy causes the substrate material within the first regions to melt; and depositing a coating over the surface of the substrate before delivering the second amount of electromagnetic energy, wherein the coating generally has a different absorption and reflection coefficient than the surface of the substrate on which the amount of electromagnetic energy is disposed.
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Specification