Large area ion implantation at low energies

The ongoing reduction of device dimensions of ULSI processing requires an increasing number of implants at very low energies. Conventional implanters deliver low currents at low energies thus reducing throughput and increasing costs. Therefore, new concepts for low energy implantation are required. We developed a new implanter which can be integrated into a cluster tool or used as a stand alone unit. The implanter has a large area, non-mass separated ion beam produced by an RF ion source. The system is very compact with a low complexity and delivers a high ion current at low energies. The implantation time is only a few seconds at 1 kV for a dose of 1015 cm−2. Because of contamination aspects, the ion optics is made out of silicon and the plasma chamber is made of quartz. The metal contamination is lower than in many conventional implanters. For example, the Fe level is below 1011 cm−2 measured with VPD-AAS. The implanter is designed for voltages in the range of 0.5 kV to 20 kV. In the particular system, ...