Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Silicon containing other than solely as silicon dioxide or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-30
2003-03-04
Brunsman, David (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Silicon containing other than solely as silicon dioxide or...
C106S285000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06527847
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a coating composition containing a specific silicon compound. More specifically, it relates to a coating composition containing an elementary silicon that has been imparted with excellent semiconducting properties by heat treatment or irradiation of light or a silicon compound that can be converted into a modified silicon film as used in LSI, thin-film transistor, photoelectric converter, photosensitive body and the like.
PRIOR ARTS
To form an amorphous silicon film and a polysilicon film, thermal CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), plasma CVD, photo CVD or the like of a monosilane gas or a disilane gas has been used heretofore. In general, thermal CVD (refer to J. Vac. Sci. Technology., vol. 14, p.1,082(1977)) has been widely used for polysilicon, while plasma CVD (refer to Solid State Com., vol. 17, p.1,193(1975)) has been widely used for amorphous silicon, and they are used in the production of a liquid crystal display device that has a thin-film transistor and a solar cell.
However, further improvements have been anticipated in the formation of the silicon film by these CVD's in view of the following points regarding processing; that is, (a) since it is a gas phase reaction, the generation of silicon particles in a gas phase causes the contamination of an apparatus or the inclusion of foreign matters, thereby causing low production yield, (b) since the material is in gaseous form, it is difficult to form a film having a uniform thickness on a substrate whose surface is not smooth, (c) productivity is low because the formation of the film is slow, and (d) complicated and expensive radio-frequency generator and vacuum apparatus are required in the case of plasma CVD.
Further, since gaseous silicon hydride which is highly toxic and highly reactive is used as the material, it is not only difficult to handle but also requires a sealed vacuum apparatus since it is in gaseous form. In general, these apparatus are not only bulky and expensive but also consume a large amount of energy in a vacuum or plasma system, causing an increase in product cost.
In recent years, a process of coating of liquid silicon hydride without using the vacuum system has been proposed to overcome the above inconvenience. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-29661-A discloses a process comprising liquefying a gaseous material to have the material adsorbed to a cooled substrate and reacting the material with chemically active elementary hydrogen to form a thin silicon film. This process, however, has some points to be improved in that a complicated apparatus is required because the gasification and subsequent cooling of silicon hydride as the material are conducted in succession and that it is difficult to control the thickness of the film.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-267621-A discloses a process comprising coating low-molecular-weight liquid silicon hydride on a substrate. This process has such problems that the system is difficult to handle because it is unstable and that it is difficult to obtain a uniform film thickness when the silicon hydride is applied to a substrate having a large area because it is in liquid form.
Meanwhile, an example of a solid silicon hydride polymer has been reported in GB-2,077,710A. This polymer, however, cannot be used for forming a film by coating since it is insoluble in a solvent.
Further, to form a silicon film pattern, there has been frequently used a process comprising forming a silicon film all over a substrate by the above vacuum film-formation process and forming a desired pattern by photolithography and etching. However, this process has such defects that it has too many steps for forming a device across a large area and that it raises production costs because of the use of expensive apparatus and a variety of materials and the consumption of a large amount of energy.
Further, the above silicon semiconductor film is generally doped by the elements of the third group and the fifth group of the periodic table and used as a positive or negative semiconductor. The doping is generally carried out by thermal diffusion or ion injection after the formation of the silicon film. Since the doping is carried out in a vacuum process control thereof is complicated, and it is particularly difficult to form a uniformly doped silicon film on a large substrate.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel coating composition.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a coating composition containing a silicon compound soluble in a solvent, which can give elementary silicon imparted with excellent semiconducting properties by heat treatment or irradiation of light.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a coating composition for producing a device capable of forming a film from a silicon compound (precursor) by coating and converting the silicon precursor to a silicon semiconductor by subjecting the silicon compound film to heat treatment and/or optical treatment in an inert atmosphere, particularly in the production of a device forming a silicon film on a substrate of large area.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a coating composition containing a silicon precursor, which can form a silicon film at low cost and in a stable manner by an energy-efficient process without conducting the conventional vacuum film formation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a coating composition that can be suitably used in the process for producing a device that forms a boron- or phosphorus-doped silicon film particularly on a substrate of large area.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a coating composition for forming a film from the modified silane compound, which can be suitably used in a process to enable forming a film comprising a modified silane compound as a silicon precursor film by coating and then converting the silicon precursor film to a silicon semiconductor by subjecting the silicon precursor film to heat treatment and/or optical treatment in an inert atmosphere while doping the silicon precursor film.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
According to the present invention, firstly, the above objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a coating composition (will be sometimes referred to as “the first coating composition of the present invention” hereinafter) comprising a silicon compound represented by the following formula (1):
Si
n
X
1
n
(1)
wherein X
1
is a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom, and n is an integer of 4 or more, on the proviso that n occurrences of X
1
may be the same as or different from one another, and solvent thereof.
Further, according to the present invention, secondly, the above objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a coating composition (will be sometimes referred to as “the second coating composition of the present invention” hereinafter) comprising a modified silane compound represented by the following formula (2):
Si
n
X
2
m
Y
l
(2)
wherein X
2
is a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom, Y is a boron atom or a phosphorus atom, n is an integer of 3 or more, l is an integer of 1 or more, and m is an integer of n to 2n+3, on the proviso that m occurrences of X
2
may be the same as or different from one another, and solvent thereof.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3379512 (1968-04-01), Margrave et al.
patent: 4695331 (1987-09-01), Ramaprasad
patent: 0 233 613 (1987-08-01), None
patent: 2 077 710 (1981-12-01), None
patent: 64-29661 (1989-01-01), None
patent: 2-101463 (1990-04-01), None
patent: 2-251135 (1990-10-01), None
patent: 2-266525 (1990-10-01), None
patent: 4-334551 (1992-11-01), None
patent: 7-267621 (1995-10-01), None
CAPLUS 1990-523893, “Silicon-containing conductive polymer resist and fine pattern formation”, Abstract of JP 02-101463, Hashimoto et al. Apr, 1990.*
J.R. Dahn, et al., J
Brunsman David
JSR Corporation
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
LandOfFree
Coating composition does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Coating composition, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coating composition will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3035145