Nanoscale doping of compound semiconductors by solid phase dopant diffusion

Abstract

Achieving damage-free, uniform, abrupt, ultra-shallow junctions while simultaneously controlling the doping concentration on the nanoscale is an ongoing challenge to the scaling down of electronic device dimensions. Here, we demonstrate a simple method of effectively doping III-V compound semiconductors, specifically InGaAs, by a solid phase doping source. This method is based on the in-diffusion of oxygen and/or silicon from a deposited non-stoichiometric silicon dioxide (SiOx) film on InGaAs, which then acts as donors upon activation by annealing. The dopant profile and concentration can be controlled by the deposited film thickness and thermal annealing parameters, giving active carrier concentration of 1.4 x 10(18) cm(-3). Our results also indicate that conventional silicon based processes must be carefully reviewed for compound semiconductor device fabrication to prevent unintended doping. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.