Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Making field effect device having pair of active regions... – On insulating substrate or layer
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-06
2004-03-30
Niebling, John F. (Department: 2812)
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Making field effect device having pair of active regions...
On insulating substrate or layer
C438S151000, C438S153000, C157S001420, C157S001420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06713329
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the fabrication of large area electronic products, and more specifically to the fabrication of complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits for add-on electronics for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), at low temperatures by directly depositing microcrystalline thin-film silicon (&mgr;C-Si).
2. Related Art
It is known how to make CMOS circuits at temperatures in excess of 600° C., which is the lowest temperature at which polycrystalline films can be made by thermal crystallization. These films are then processed to CMOS circuits.
An ultralow-temperature, large-area silicon technology that could furnish a tool kit of standard devices, including transistors, rectifying diodes and photodiodes is of great interest for applications in macroelectronics, and in add-on electronics for application-specific integrated circuits. The latter application of the process temperature expands the applicability of macroelectronics. A widely usable ultralow-temperature technology needs p channel and n channel field-effect transistors (FETs), which are the building blocks for complementary digital circuits n channel FETs made of directly deposited microcrystalline silicon (&mgr;c-Si) indeed have been reported by: T. Nagahara, K. Fuiimoto. N. Kohno. Y. Kashiwapi and H. Kakinoki, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 31, 4555 (1992); J. Woo, H. Lim and J. Jane, Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 1644 (1994); H. Meiling, A. M. Brockhoff J. K. Rath and R.E.I. Schropr), Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 508, 31 (1998); and Y. Chen and S. Wagner, Electrochem. Soc. Proc. 98-22, 221 (1998). The fabrication of solar cells of &mgr;c-Si suggests that useful hole mobilities can be obtained in &mgr;c-Si. However, no p channel thin film transistors (TFTs):have been made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), which is an efficient solar cell material.
What would be desirable, but has not heretofore been developed, is a method of fabricating macroelectronic devices and ASICs at low temperatures by directly depositing &mgr;c-Si and integrating a p channel TFT with an n channel TFT to form an inverter.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method of making large area electronic devices at low temperatures.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of making CMOs circuits at low temperatures.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of making TFTs by directly depositing &mgr;c-Si.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a method of integrating p channel and n channel TFTs to form an inverter.
It is even a further object of the present invention to provide a method for making p channel and n channel transistors from the same film of &mgr;c-Si.
It is even an additional object of the present invention to provide a TFT wherein the p and n channels share a single &mgr;c-Si layer.
A p channel TFT is made of directly deposited microcrystalline silicon (&mgr;c-Si). The p TFT is integrated with its n channel counterpart on a single &mgr;c-Si film, to form a complementary metal-silicon oxide-silicon (CMOS) inverter of deposited &mgr;c-Si. The &mgr;c-Si channel material can be grown at low temperatures by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition in a process similar to the deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Either the p
+
or n
+
layers can be grown and patterned, and then the other can be deposited and patterned. The p and n channels share the same &mgr;c-Si layer.
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Chen Yu
Wagner Sigurd
Niebling John F.
Simkovic Viktor
The Trustees of Princeton University
Wolff & Samson PC
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