Diffusion of Boron from Polysilicon at High Concentrations

Boron diffusion profiles in single crystal silicon from highly doped polysilicon sources have been measured using SIMS after diffusion at 950°C for various times. These data have been analyzed to determine D(c) of boron in the single crystal. It is normally assumed that at high boron concentrations D increases linearly with concentration. However, the shape of these profiles indicates that for a polysilicon source, this behavior does not appear to hold. Using Bolzmann-Matano analysis, D(c) was found to be insensitive to boron concentrations above 3.0E19 atoms/cm3. The results of this analysis were confirmed by using them as input to a diffusion simulation computer program and excellent agreement with the experimental profiles was obtained. The value of D was found to be unusually high at all concentrations in the single crystal and increased almost linearly with the doping level of the polysilicon. The effect of the furnace ramp-down cycle on the profiles near the crystal surface have also been investigated.