Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Introduction of conductivity modifying dopant into... – Diffusing a dopant
Patent
1994-11-18
1998-03-31
Kunemund, Robert
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Introduction of conductivity modifying dopant into...
Diffusing a dopant
438495, 438505, 438522, 438565, H01L 2120
Patent
active
057338159
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods of fabricating gallium arsenide (GaAs) positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) structures, the resulting devices and their applications and, more particularly, the present invention relates to methods of using Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) to create gallium arsenide structures which include a positive-intrinsic-negative structure, to the resulting p-i-n devices themselves, and to various applications which make us of these devices.
Intense research has been ongoing in an effort to commercialize GaAs as a semiconducting material in various applications. GaAs offers a number of theoretical advantages over silicon, which is currently of widespread use as a semiconductor.
One of the advantages of GaAs is that, unlike silicon, GaAs possesses several vacancy types, which, together with amphoteric dopants such as Si, make it possible to create regions where donors and acceptors balance each other to form a zone of low dopant concentration--the intrinsic zone. This makes it theoretically possible to form GaAs positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) structures having properties making them superior to silicon p-n structures for a variety of applications. While p-i-n structures are known, the i-layer in such structures typically possesses compensated doping concentration of greater than 10.sup.14 cm.sup.-3.
While such structures are useful, the relatively high dopant levels heretofore available tend to somewhat limit the usefulness of the structures. Thus, p-i-n structures having an i-layer which is nearly intrinsic, i.e., which features a compensated doping concentration of less than 10.sup.12 cm.sup.-3, while highly desirable, have heretofore been impossible to fabricate. In what follows, whenever the i-layer, or a p-i-n structure, is specified in the context of the present invention, it is intended to indicate an i-layer or p-i-n structure having a compensated doping concentration of less than 10.sup.12 cm.sup.-3.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, methods for fabricating GaAs p-i-n structures, in the sense of the present invention, the resulting structures themselves, and useful devices into which such structures could be incorporated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a method of simultaneously forming a gallium arsenide p-i-n structure having p, i and n regions, comprising: (a) heating to dissolve gallium arsenide in a solvent to form a saturated solution of gallium arsenide in the solvent; (b) contacting the solution with a gaseous mixture, which mixture includes hydrogen, water vapor and products of reactions between the hydrogen and the water vapor with the solvent and with silicon dioxide, to form a contacted solution; (c) coating a suitably selected substrate with the contacted solution; (d) cooling the coated substrate to precipitate gallium arsenide from the contacted solution onto the substrate; (e) removing the substrate coated with a layer of gallium arsenide having a p-i-n structure which constitutes the product, the p-i-n structure having an i region with a dopant concentration of less than about 10.sup.12 cm.sup.-3.
Further according to the present invention there is provided a gallium arsenide p-i-n structure as created by the method described above.
Further still according to the present invention there are provided diodes, thermosensors, neutron detectors, gamma detectors, opto-modulators, asymmetrical thyristors, and opto-thyristors, each including a gallium arsenide p-i-n structure created by the method described above.
What is disclosed and claimed herein are processes for fabricating GaAs p-i-n structures, the structures themselves, and a series of applications incorporating the structures. Specifically, LPE is used to create a GaAs structure which features three regions, one rich in donors, one rich in acceptors, and a third region, located intermediate between the two others, which is virtually free of donors or acceptors
REFERENCES:
patent: 3859148 (1975-01-01), Dawson et al.
patent: 3997377 (1976-12-01), Izawa et al.
patent: 4238252 (1980-12-01), Kamath et al.
patent: 5185272 (1993-02-01), Makiuchi et al.
Holmes et al, "Growth of InP by Infinite Solution LPE" Journal of Crystal Growth vol. 54 (1981) pp. 51-58.
Ashkinazi German
Leibovich Mark
Meyler Boris
Nathan Menachem
Zolotarevski Leonid
Friedman Mark M.
Kunemund Robert
Ramot University Authority for Applied Research & Industrial Dev
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