Ion implantation

When implanting aluminum or similar into SiC, why is the wafer often heated to several hundred degrees Celsius during implantation (hot implantation)?

  1. ATo melt the wafer
  2. BTo recover damage during implantation and prevent hard-to-recover damage such as amorphization
  3. CTo make the ions heavier
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Answer: B. To recover damage during implantation and prevent hard-to-recover damage such as amorphization

High-dose implants into SiC at room temperature tend to leave hard-to-recover damage such as amorphization. Heating the wafer to several hundred degrees during implantation lets some damage recover as it forms, making it easier to obtain good crystal and high activation in the subsequent activation anneal above 1,600 °C.

  • A. SiC does not melt at several hundred degrees.
  • B. Correct. It recovers damage during implantation.
  • C. Heating does not change the ions' mass.
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More Ion implantation questions

  1. Which element, heavier than boron, has been considered and used as a p-type dopant to create steep retrograde profiles in nMOS channels?
  2. What problem tends to arise when removing photoresist that has received a high-dose ion implant?
  3. In ion implantation, which parameter mainly determines how deep the dopants are implanted (the range)?
  4. What is the main purpose of annealing (heat treatment) after ion implantation?
  5. Which is a common way to suppress channeling (ions traveling too deep through gaps in the crystal) in ion implantation?