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Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon

Dissertation (MSc (Physics))--University of Pretoria, 1997.

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Other Authors: Auret, F.D. (Francois Danie)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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author2 Auret, F.D. (Francois Danie)
author_browse Auret, F.D. (Francois Danie)
author_facet Auret, F.D. (Francois Danie)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Physics))--University of Pretoria, 1997.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/99544 Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon Auret, F.D. (Francois Danie) Myburgh, G. Deenapanray, P.N.K. Electrical characterisation Plasma processing induced defects Silicon UCTD Dissertation (MSc (Physics))--University of Pretoria, 1997. Plasma processing techniques have become vital for the fabrication of sub-micron size semiconductor devices. For instance, sputter deposition is used during metallization steps for the deposition of refractory metals and the stoichiometric deposition of alloys. Plasma or dry etching is used for the transfer of patterns onto semiconductors with sub-micron line-width resolution. Sputter deposition and sputter etching make use of low energy noble gas ions (0.2-2 keV), which impinge on the exposed substrate during processing to create damage in the semiconductor lattice. The defects thus produced modify the electrical, optical and structural properties of the semiconductor and of devices fabricated thereon. The extent of the property modifications depends critically on the plasma parameters, such as plasma operation mode (de or rt), etch rate, pressure and power, amongst others. In order to avoid the deleterious effects of these defects or to use them to engineer the semiconductor properties during processing, it is essential to know the electrical, optical and structural properties of the defects. This exercise also leads to process optimisation. Finally, the annealing properties of the processing-induced defects must be known so that they can be removed, if required, by in-situ or post-processing high temperature treatments. Sputter deposition of TiW and Au contacts on n-Si introduced electrically active defects in the substrate. The barrier height of the Schottky diodes were lower than those of control diodes fabricated by resistive evaporation. Furthermore, the barrier height of the sputter deposited diodes decreased with decreasing plasma pressure, suggesting that more donor-type defects are introduced with decreasing pressure. Sputter etching in an Ar plasma also introduced several electrically active defects in n-Si. The amount of damage was found to increase with decreasing plasma pressure. Donor-type defects, responsible for the degraded quality of the diodes fabricated on the etched surfaces by resistive evaporation, were found to be confined close to the metal-semiconductor interface. Acceptor-type defects caused a reduction in the free carrier concentration of the semiconductor to depths much larger than the theoretical range of the low energy Ar ions. This suggests that some defects migrate away from the region where they are produced during processing. The amount of residual damage was observed to decrease with increasing etch time up to 6 min, and thereafter increased. For relatively low etch periods of time, defect accumulation dominates over their removal by physical sputtering. Etching for more than 6 min is speculated to introduce extended defects or amorphize the near surface region. Isochronal annealing studies showed that most of the defects could be removed by annealing above 500 °C. However, a prominent secondary defect which was stable at 650 °C was introduced during annealing. Low energy noble gas ion bombardment created different defects compared to 5.4 MeV alpha-particle irradiation of n-Si. This has been explained by considering the energy loss mechanisms of the ions in these energy ranges. It is shown that large vacancy clusters and non-radiative recombination centres are produced during the low energy noble gas ion bombardment of n-Si. Physics MSc (Physics) 2024-11-27T09:16:11Z 2024-11-27T09:16:11Z 21/10/23 1997 Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2263/99544 en © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Electrical characterisation
Plasma processing induced defects
Silicon
UCTD
Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title_full Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title_fullStr Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title_full_unstemmed Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title_short Electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
title_sort electrical characterisation of plasma processing induced defects in silicon
topic Electrical characterisation
Plasma processing induced defects
Silicon
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/99544