Low-temperature Phosphorus Doping To Silicon Using Phosphorus-related Radicals

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) doped ultra thin n⁺-layer is formed on crystalline silicon (c-Si) at low substrate temperatures of 80 – 350 °C using radicals generated by the catalytic reaction of phosphine (PH₃) with a tungsten catalyzer heated at 1300 °C. The sheet carrier concentration obtained by Hall effect is in the range between 3×10¹²cm^-2 and 8×10¹²cm^-2. The distribution of P atoms obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) indicates that P atoms locate within the depth of 4 nm from surface and the profile has almost the same distribution independent of any doping conditions such as substrate temperature or radical exposure time. The sheet carrier concentration is 1.15 – 2.12% of the amount of P atoms incorporated through the radical doping. The ratio of activated donors increases with substrate temperature during the radical doping, suggesting that P-related species bonded on the c-Si surface require thermal energy for their activation. Using the n⁺-layer formed by radical doping, the reduction of surface recombination velocity for n-type c-Si wafer is attempted. The effective minority carrier lifetime of the n-type c-Si sample covered with 6-nm-thick intrinsic amorphous Si (i-a-Si) layers on both side increases from 32 μs to1576 μs by the radical doping of P atoms to n-type c-Si surface, suggesting that the radical doping can be utilized for the formation of passivation layers on a-Si/ n-c-Si hetero-interface.