US5194398A
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Semiconductor film and process for its production
Assignee: Mitsui Chemicals Inc
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Filing: 1992-02-06
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Granted: 1993-03-16
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Expires: 2012-02-06
Abstract
Abstract A method for forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises (a) a film-forming step of forming a semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen to a thickness of 3 to 1000 Å, and (b) a modifying step of modifying the formed film, the steps being repeated multiple times.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenji Miyachi
- 👤 Nobuhiro Fukuda
- 👤 Yoshinori Ashida
- 👤 Masato Koyama
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 20:04
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/06; C23C14/0682; C23C14/58; C23C14/5826; C23C14/5846; C23C16/00; C23C16/56; H; H10; H10F; H10F71/00; H10F71/10; H10F71/103; H10F71/1035; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; H10P14/22; H10P14/24; H10P14/29; H10P14/2901; H10P14/2902; H10P14/2905; H10P14/2921; H10P14/34; H10P14/3402; H10P14/3404; H10P14/3408; H10P14/3411; H10P14/3412; H10P14/3414; H10P14/3416; H10P95/00; H10P95/94; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E10/00; Y02E10/50; Y02P; Y02P70/00; Y02P70/50; Y10; Y10S; Y10S438/00; Y10S438/909
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
90 words
A method for forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises the sequential steps of: (a) forming a silicon or silicon alloy semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen, and then (b) modifying the formed film by exposing said film to a discharge atmosphere containing a non-film-forming reactive gas or a monovalent ion or atomic hydrogen, the sequence of steps being repeated multiple times, the thickness of the semiconductor film formed by one formation/modification cycle being in the range of from 10 to 1000 A. t
Claim 2
Independent Claim
90 words
A method for forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises the sequential steps of: (a) forming a silicon or silicon alloy semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen, and then (b) modifying the formed film by exposing said film to a discharge atmosphere containing a non-film-forming reactive gas or a monovalent ion or atomic hydrogen, the sequence of steps being repeated multiple times, the thickness of the semiconductor film formed by one formation/modification cycle being in the range of from 10 to 1000 A. t
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method of claim 1 in which the film-forming step is carried out by a physical film-forming method selected from vacuum evaporation, sputtering, and ion plating.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method of claim 2 in which a material selected from the group consisting of silicon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon-germanium alloy and silicon-tin alloy is used as a starting material for said physical film-forming method.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method of claim 2 in which the film-forming step is carried out at a pressure of from 0.001 mtorr to 10 mtorr and a temperature of from room temperature to 500° C.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method of claim 1 in which the film-forming step is carried out by a chemical film-forming method selected from photo CVD and plasma CVD.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method of claim 3 in which a silane compound, silane fluoride, organosilane, or a mixture of these gases and a hydrocarbon is used as a starting gas for said chemical film-forming method.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method of claim 5 in which the chemical film-forming method is photo CVD.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method of claim 7 which is carried out at a pressure of from 15 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and a temperature of from 200° to 600° C.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method of claim 5 in which the chemical film-forming method is plasma CVD.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method of claim 9 which is carried out at a pressure of from 0.001 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and a temperature of from 200° to 600° C.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method of claim 1 in which the semiconductor film is formed to a thickness of from 10 to 100 Å in one formation/modification cycle.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method of claim 1 in which the amount of bound hydrogen is not more than 10%.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method of claim 1 in which the modifying step is carried out by exposing the film to a discharge atmosphere containing a non-film-forming reactive gas.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method of claim 13 in which the non-film-forming reactive gas is selected from hydrogen, hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, nitrogen trifluoride, and carbon tetrafluoride.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method of claim 13 in which the modifying step by the non-film-forming reactive gas is carried out at a pressure of from 0.001 mtorr to atmospheric pressure.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method of claim 1 in which the modifying step is carried out by exposing the film to a monovalent ion selected from hydrogen, fluorine, and chlorine.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method of claim 16 in which the monovalent ion is generated by an ion generating device.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method of claim 16 in which the modifying step of a monovalent ion is carried out at a pressure of from 0.001 mtorr to 10 torr and a temperature of from room temperature to 600° C. and with an ion energy of from 10 to 2000 eV.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method of claim 1 in which the modifying step is carried out by exposing the film to atomic hydrogen.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method of claim 19 in which the atomic hydrogen is generated by high frequency discharge, direct-current discharge, microwave discharge, ECR discharge, or a hot filament.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method of claim 19 in which the modifying step with atomic hydrogen is carried out at a pressure of from 0.001 mtorr to atmospheric pressure and at a temperature of from room temperature to 600° C.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 in which the final film thickness is 1000 Å to 10 micrometers.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1 in which the resulting film contains from 1 to 10 atomic percent of bound hydrogen.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
13 words
A semiconductor film formed by the method of claim 1 on a substrate.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises the sequential steps of: (a) forming a silicon semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen, and (b) de-halogenating/hydrogenating the formed film, the sequence of steps (a) and (b) each being repeated multiple times, the thickness of the semiconductor film formed by one formation/modification cycle being in the range of from 10 to 1000 Å,
Claim 27
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises the sequential steps of: (a) forming a silicon semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen, and (b) de-halogenating/hydrogenating the formed film, the sequence of steps (a) and (b) each being repeated multiple times, the thickness of the semiconductor film formed by one formation/modification cycle being in the range of from 10 to 1000 Å,
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method of claim 25 in which the silicon semiconductor film is a halogenated amorphous silicon semiconductor film, and de-halogenation-hydrogenation is carried out by contacting the halogenated amorphous silicon semiconductor film with silane gas.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method of claim 26 in which the de-halogenation-hydrogenation is carried out while irradiating with light.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method of claim 25 in which the silicon semiconductor film is a hydrogenated amorphous silicon semiconductor film, and the de-halogenation/hydrogenation is carried out by contacting the amorphous silicon semiconductor film with halogenated silane gas.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method of claim 28, in which the dehalogenation/hydrogenation is carried out while irradiating with light.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
14 words
A semiconductor film formed by the method of claim 25 on a substrate. m
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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