Diffusion

Definition
 It can be defined as redistribution of atoms
from the regions of higher concentration to
the regions of lower concentration.
 In general, used to introduce dopants in
controlled amounts into semiconductors.
 Typical applications:
 Form diffused resistors

 Form sources/drains in MOS devices

 Form bases/emitters in bipolar transistors

 Basic Process
 Source material transported to surface by
inert carrier

 Decomposes and reacts with the surface

 Dissolve in Si, begin to diffuse

Schematic
 Dopant Sources
 Inert carrier gas = N2
 Dopant gases:
 P-type = diborane (B2H6)
 N-Type = arsine (AsH3), phosphine (PH3)
 Other sources:
 Solid = BN, As2O3, P2O5
 Liquid = BBr3, AsCl3, POCl3
 Diffusion Mechanisms
 Vacancy diffusion: atoms jump from
one lattice site to the next vacant site.

 Interstitial diffusion: Interstitial atom

moves between the empty spaces in the
semiconductor lattice without occupying a
lattice site.
 Vacancy Diffusion
 Also called “substitutional”
diffusion

 Must have vacancies

available. Since there are
not many of these vacant
sites so this type of
diffusion is slow.
 Interstitial Diffusion
 “Interstitial” =
between lattice sites
 This is a fast
process.
 Fick’s First law of Diffusion

Diffusion can be represented by the following equation
J– The Mass Flux –J=
Flux
- Dis*the movement
Δ C/ Δx of objects from one point

to another in a given time. Unit:

mol/(h*ft2), mol/(s*m2)
D– Diffusivity – The diffusivity is the constant that describes how
fast or
slow an object diffuses. Unit: ft2/h, or cm2/s
C – Concentration – Concentration is the amount of mass in a
given volume. Δ C refers to the change in concentration. Unit: mol /
cm3, mol/L
x – Distance – This refers to the distance that the object is
diffusing. Δ x refers to the change in distance. Unit: m,cm,ft.
The negative diffusivity is because the movement is from higher to
lower concentration.
 Fick’s Second law of Diffusion
 According to the law of conservation of matter, the
change of the dopant concentration with time must be
equivalent to the local decrease of the diffusion flux, in
the absence of a source or a sink.

 When the concentration of the dopant is low, the

diffusion constant at a given temperature can be
considered as a constant and the equation can be
written as
 Diffusion Coefficient or
Diffusivity
 The diffusion coefficient can be expressed as

  Ea 
D  D0 exp 
 kT 
 Diffusivity varies with temperature
 D0 = diffusion coefficient (in cm2/s)
extrapolated to infinite temperature
 Ea = activation energy in eV
 For interstitial diffusion, Ea is related to the
energy required to move a dopant atom from
one interstitial site to another. The values of Ea
are between 0.5 to 1.5 eV in both Si and GaAs.

 For vacancy diffusion, Ea is related to both the

energies of motion and formation of vacancies.
Ea for vacancy diffusion is larger than that for
interstitial diffusion and is usually between 3 to
5 eV.
 Types of diffusion
 Thermal diffusion in semiconductor device fabrication consists of
two steps: predeposition and drive-in diffusion.

 In predeposition the wafer is exposed briefly to a dopant-

containing gas atmosphere at an elevated temperature so that its
surface is saturated with the dopant. The impurity source is
present throughout diffusion and the impurity concentration at the
surface Cs is thus held at a fixed value. Cs is taken as solid
solubility limit in silicon at a diffusion temperature for a particular
impurity. It is also called infinite source diffusion.

 After predeposition, extended thermal diffusion can be applied to

reduce the surface dopant concentration and push the dopant
deeper into the bulk of the substrate. This step, called drive-in
diffusion. It is also called limited source diffusion. In this step a
fixed number of impurities diffuse deeper into the wafer with the
external source of impurity atoms removed.
 Predeposit diffusion
 Initial condition:
C(x=0+,t=0) = 0 (no impurity in the substrate at the
start of the predep)
 Boundary conditions:
C(x=0,t) = constant = Cs (surface concentration is
limited by the solid solubility)
C(x=∞,t) = 0 (limited time so that impurity does not
diffuse through the material)
 The solution of the differential equation that satisfies the
initial and boundary conditions is given by:
 Predeposit diffusion
 If Q(tp)be the total number of impurity atoms per unit area
in the wafer after a predeposition time tp, then


Q(t p )   C ( x, t p )dx
0

x
 Cs  erfc dx
0 2 D pt p

1
Since
0 erfc y dy  
 Predeposit diffusion

2C s
Q(t p )  D pt p

Where Dp is the diffusivity at predeposition time.

D p t p is the characteristic length associated with a

particular Diffusion. If the thickness of the
wafer is large in comparison with the
characteristic length, then the Wafer is
considered to be semi infinite.
 Drive-in diffusion

 Initial condition: C(x,0) = 0

 The boundary conditions are

C (, t d )  0
x 

 C ( x, t
x 0
d )dx  Q (t p )  S  dose

where, td= t – tp
t= total diffusion time
tp= Predeposition time
td = Drive in diffusion time
 The solution of Fick's equation under these
conditions is;
S x2
C ( x, t d )  exp( )
Dd t d 4 Dd t d ->Gaussian
distribution

Dd= drive in diffusion coefficient

Diffusion Profiles
 Impurity Profile, Background
Concentration and Junction depth
 Impurity Profile: The C(x)
Boron diffusion
concentration of a impurity Cs
(Cs ~ 1020 cm-3 )

versus depth into the silicon.

 Background Concentration: Csub
(phosphorus, ~1015 cm -3 )
An impurity concentration
existing in the silicon on which p-type
xj
n-type
x

impurity profile is formed.

 Junction depth: The depth at
which impurity profile
concentration is equal to the
background Concentration.
 Junction depth
 Predeposition junction depth
C ( x j , t p )  C BC
xj
C BC  CS erfc
2 D pt p

 Drive-in diffusion junction depth

C ( x j , t d )  C BC
2
S xj
C BC  exp( )
Dd t d 4 Dd t d
 Junction Depth
 Can be marked out by
cutting a groove and
etching the surface with
a solution (100 cm3 HF
and a few drops of
HNO3 for silicon) that
stains the p-type region
darker than the n-type
region, as illustrated
above.
 Sheet Resistance
 In diffused semiconductor layers, resistivity is a strong function of depth
and from depth we can determine impurity profile.
 The concept of sheet resistance is used to characterize
wafers. Because it is typically easier to measure the sheet
resistance rather than the resistivity of the material.
 The sheet resistance of a layer with resistivity, ρ, and
thickness, t, is given by their ratio:

So we can write the resistance of the diffused layer as

L
R  RS
W
 So we can define sheet w

resistance as the electric t

resistance of a square length = L

sheet of a film. It is area = A

independent of the size of

the square, but depends
only on the film resistivity
and the thickness of the
film. Therefore it is
defined as ohm/square.
 Sheet Resistance (cont.)
 Relates xj, mobility (), and impurity distribution C(x)

1
Rs  xj
q  C ( x)dx
0
 For a given diffusion profile, the average resistivity (
= Rsxj) is uniquely related to Cs and for an assumed
diffusion profile.

 Irvin curves relating Cs and have been calculated
for simple diffusion profiles.

 Four point probe method
 The four point probe
contains four thin
collinearly placed
tungsten wires probes
which are made to
contact the sample under
test. Current I is made to
flow between the outer
probes, and voltage V is
measured between the
two inner probes and the
sheet resistance is
computed from
 V V
RS   4.53
ln 2 I I
 Lateral diffusion

 At the beginning of the

diffusion process, there is
no concentration gradient
in the Si.
 As soon as there are
impurity atoms in the Si,
there is an impurity
gradient in all directions
thus diffusion occurs in all
directions.
 This causes impurities to
diffusion underneath the
mask.
 Problem
 A pn junction is to be formed 2 µm from the surface in
n-type Si substrate which has a doping concentration of
10^16 phosphorus atoms per cm3. The junction is
formed by a two-step diffusion of boron:
1) the predep is solid-solubility limited at 900°C
2) the drive-in is at 1100 °C. After the drive-in step ,
the sheet resistance is 150./ square.
Find out the appropriate diffusion times for both predep
and drive-in steps.
Given :Do=10.5 cm2 /sec and Ea=3.69 eV for Boron
diffusion constant , Solid solubility limit of boron at
900°C (predep temp) ˜ 1.1×1020/cm3