CMOS photodiode having reduced dark current and improved...

Details CMOS photodiode having reduced dark current and improved... CMOS photodiode having reduced dark current and improved...

2003-05-28

2004-06-22

Nelms, David (Department: 2818)

Semiconductor device manufacturing: process

Making device or circuit responsive to nonelectrical signal

C257S292000, C257S431000, C257S465000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06753202

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related in general to the field of electronic systems and semiconductor devices, and more specifically to photodiodes fabricated by the CMOS technology, yet having reduced dark current and improved light sensitivity and responsivity.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Digital imaging devices are becoming increasingly popular in a variety of applications such as digital cameras, fingerprint recognition, and digital scanners and copiers. Typical prior art digital imaging devices are based on Charge Coupled Device (CCD) technology. CCD devices have an array of CCD cells, each cell comprising a pixel. Each CCD pixel outputs a voltage signal proportionate to the intensity of light impinging upon the cell. This analog voltage signal can be converted to a digital signal for further processing, digital filtering, and storage. As is well known in the art, a two-dimensional digital image can be constructed from the voltage signal outputs created by a two-dimensional array of CCD cells, commonly referred to as a sensor array.
CCD arrays have the shortcoming that the CCD fabrication requires a special process flow, which is not compatible with the standard CMOS process flow dominating today's manufacturing technology due to its flexibility and low cost. Consequently, the CCD array cannot be easily integrated with other logic circuits, such as CCD control logic and analog-to-digital converters. Additionally, in operation, a CCD array requires multiple high voltage supplies from 5 V to 12 V, and tends to consume a large amount of power.
CMOS technology has recently been considered for imager application. CMOS area (or 2-dimensional) sensor arrays can be fabricated in standard CMOS process and thus other system functions, such as controller, analog-to-digital, signal processor, and digital signal processor, can be integrated on the same chip. CMOS area array sensors (or CMOS imagers) can operate with a single low supply voltage such as 3.3 V or 5.0 V. The cost of CMOS processing is also lower than that of CCD processing. The power consumption of a CMOS sensor is lower than that of a CCD sensor.
In order to fabricate photodiodes and pixels in CMOS technology, however, a number of problems have to be overcome, foremost the unacceptably high level of reverse bias leakage or “dark” current of the photodiodes. This reverse bias or dark current is dominated by generation current in the junction depletion region. This current is proportional to the depletion width and the intrinsic carrier concentration, and inverse proportional to the recombination lifetime. Methods to reduce the dark current include lowering the temperature, or operating at lower supply voltage, or reducing the recombination/generation centers in the depletion region. The latter option is the most promising.
The recombination/generation centers originate mainly from
lattice defects introduced during processing, especially
implant damage not annealed by subsequent thermal treatment;
damage induced by reactive ion etching (such as gate poly-silicon and shallow trench isolation etching);
stress-induced defects, for instance at STI edges;
surface states, prominently
electron traps at the Si-SiO2 interface;
depletion region extending to and including the silicon surface directly under the oxide;
impurities, for example
dopants and
metal contamination primarily from silicide.
In known technology, a number of approaches have been described to minimize at least several of these origins and thus reduce the dark current. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,210, issued Apr. 29, 1997 (Lee et al., “Active Pixel Sensor Integrated with a Pinned Photodiode”), extends the concept of a pinned photodiode, known in CCD technology, by integrating it into the image sensing element of an active pixel sensor, fabricated in CMOS technology. An additional first implant creates a photodiode by implanting a deeper n+ dopant than used by the source and drain implants, increasing the photo-response. An additional pinning layer implant, using high doses of a low energy p+ dopant, is then created near the surface; this pinning layer is not in electrical contact with the p-epitaxial layer over the p-substrate. This approach has many additional process steps and is too expensive for mass production.
Other approaches to reduce the dark current have been described at technical conferences such as ISSCC 1999, ISSCC 2000, and IEDM 2000. These approaches include optimizing the shallow trench liner oxidation in order to minimize defects at the active edge, blocking silicide, annealing with hydrogen in order to passivate defects, varying anneal cycles and well junction depths. Non of these efforts were completely satisfactory, especially with respect to minimum number of process steps and low cost manufacturing.
The challenge of cost reduction implies a drive for minimizing the number of process steps, especially a minimum number of photomask steps, and the application of standardized process conditions wherever possible. These constraints should be kept in mind when additional process steps or new process conditions are proposed to reduce photodiode dark current and improve light sensitivity and responsivity without sacrificing any desirable device characteristics. An urgent need has, therefore, arisen for a coherent, low-cost method of reducing dark current in photodiodes fabricated by CMOS technology. The device structure should further provide excellent light responsivity and sensitivity in the red as well as the blue spectrum, mechanical stability and high reliability. The fabrication method should be simple, yet flexible enough for different semiconductor product families and a wide spectrum of design and process variations. Preferably, these innovations should be accomplished without extending production cycle time, and using the installed equipment, so that no investment in new manufacturing machines is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A light-sensing diode is fabricated in a high resistivity semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, the substrate having a surface protected by an insulator, comprising
a first well of the opposite conductivity type in the substrate, forming a junction with the substrate remote from the surface, the well further having sidewall portions;
a second well of the first conductivity type fabricated in the substrate, at least partially surrounding the sidewalls of the first well, thereby forming a junction with the first well;
the second well further having at least one extension along the surface under the insulator into the first well, thereby buried near-the-surface junctions with the first well and constricting the surface area within which the junction intersect the surface; and
contacts for applying electrical bias across the junctions.
The invention applies to semiconductors both of p-type and n-type as “first” conductivity types; preferably, the semiconductors are in the 1 to 50 &OHgr;com resistivity range. The semiconductor may consist of an epitaxial layer deposited on higher conductivity substrate material.
It is an aspect of the invention that the image-capturing device is fabricated with standard CMOS technology and the dark (leakage) current reduced by producing a buried junction, away from the surface, without an extra process step by utilizing the p-well implant. The invention thus reduces leakage current created by the junction perimeter intercepting the surface by reducing the effect of surface-related traps, dangling bonds, recombination/generation centers, and other surface effects creating leakage.
Another aspect of the invention is that the method is fully compatible with deep sub-micron CMOS technology, such as 0.18 &mgr;m and smaller.
Another aspect of the invention is that the concept of creating buried near-the-surface junctions and thus reducing the effect of surface-related leakage caused by traps, dangling bonds, and recombination/generation centers can be extended to any type of semiconductor diode, for example diodes used in memory circuits.
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