2.

1 Discuss briefly the relationships between an ion beam’s

acceleration potential, the beam current, and the time of implantation
on the resulting doping profile.
Higher acceleration potentials lead to deeper penetration of ions into the
substrate, influencing the depth and shape of the doping profile.
A higher beam current increases the dose rate, meaning more ions are
implanted within a given timeframe.
Longer implantation times allow for a higher dose, which impacts the
overall doping concentration and can lead to changes in the electrical
properties of the doped region

2.2 Place the following processing steps in their correct order: metal
deposition and patterning, field implantation, junction implantation,
well implantation, polysilicon deposition and patterning, field-oxide
growth.
1- Well Implantation.
Establishes the regions (n-well or p-well) in the substrate for creating
transistors.
2- Field-Oxide Growth.
Creates thick oxide regions to isolate different devices on the chip.
3- Field Implantation:
Implants ions to adjust the threshold voltage in the isolation regions.
4- Polysilicon Deposition and Patterning:
Deposits and patterns the polysilicon gate, which defines the transistor gate
structure.
5- Junction Implantation:
Forms the source and drain regions by implanting dopants adjacent to the
gate.
6- Metal Deposition and Patterning:
Deposits and patterns metal layers to create interconnections between the
devices.

2.3 What are the major problems associated with a single threshold-
voltage-adjust implant?
 The doping level of the well is higher than the optimum.
 Higher Junction Capacitance
 The body effect of the transistors in the well.
 Increased Complexity in Masking.

2.4 What is the reason for using a field implant and why is it often not
needed in the well regions?
The reason for using a field implant is to prevent parasitic effects, such as
leakage currents, under field oxide regions in CMOS fabrication, where it
provides the following functions:

 Threshold Voltage Adjustment: Field implants adjust the threshold voltages of transistors.
By implanting dopants in the field regions, the electrical characteristics of the transistors can be
fine-tuned to achieve desired performance metrics.

 Isolation: Field implants help to improve isolation between adjacent devices on a chip. By
creating a doped region that can prevent unwanted electrical coupling between transistors, field
implants enhance the overall performance and reliability of the circuit.

 Preventing Inversion: In certain regions, field implants can help prevent the inversion of the
substrate under the field oxide, which can lead to unwanted parasitic effects and degradation of
device performance.

Suppress Parasitic Conduction: Without the field implant, inversion could occur in the lightly
doped substrate under the field oxide, allowing leakage currents or parasitic device behavior to
degrade circuit performance.

Field implants are often not needed in the well regions for the following reasons:

Higher Doping Levels in the Well: Well regions (e.g., n-well or p-well) are already doped more
heavily than the substrate. This higher doping concentration inherently raises the threshold
voltage in the well, preventing inversion without the need for an additional field implant.
 Built-in Electrical Characteristics: The inherent electrical characteristics of the well
regions, due to their higher doping levels, provide sufficient isolation and control over the
threshold voltages without the need for additional field implants.

2.5 What are the major trade-offs in using a wet process or a dry
process when growing thermal SiO2?
Trade-off Wet Process Dry Process
Growth Rate Faster Slower
Uniformity of layer uniform non-uniformities
Electrical Properties Higher leakage currents Lower leakage currents
Oxide Quality Lower Higher
Processes More Less
Temperature Lower higher
800 to 1200 °C
Gate oxides, thin insulating
Applications Field oxides, masking layers
layers,
Lower (faster process, suitable Higher (due to longer
Cost
for thick layers) processing times)
Shorter (suitable for thick
Processing Time Longer (suitable for thin oxides)
oxides)

2.6 Why is polysilicon rather than metal used to realize gates of MOS
transistors?
Polysilicon is preferred over metal for realizing gates of MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor)
transistors for several key reasons:
-High-Temperature Tolerance: Polysilicon has a thermal expansion coefficient that is more
compatible with silicon than metals. This reduces stress and potential defects at the silicon-
polysilicon interface during thermal processing.
- Low Resistivity: Doping polysilicon with n-type or p-type impurities (like phosphorus or
boron) can lower its resistivity, making it suitable for gate applications while still maintaining
good electrical performance.
- Gate Oxide Quality: The interface between polysilicon and the gate oxide (SiO2) is generally
of higher quality than that between metal and oxide. This results in better electrical
characteristics, such as lower leakage currents and improved reliability.
- Reduced Gate Leakage: Polysilicon gates can help minimize gate leakage currents, which is
critical for the performance of modern MOS transistors, especially in low-power applications.
- Reduced Gate Capacitance: Polysilicon contributes to lower gate-to-source and gate-to-drain
capacitances compared to some metals, improving transistor performance in terms of speed.
- Capacitive Coupling: Polysilicon gates provide good capacitive coupling to the channel
because of their controlled resistivity and ability to maintain proper electrical field control over
the transistor channel.

2.7 Why can’t a microcircuit be annealed after metal has been

deposited?
During the annealing process, the wafer is heated to about 1000 °C, for 15 to 30 minutes, and
then allowed to cool slowly. While metal of a microcircuit that has been deposited has low
melting temperature. If annealing is performed after the deposition of a metal layer, the high
temperatures can cause the metal to melt, leading to several detrimental effects:

1. Melting of Metal Layers: The heat from the annealing process can cause the metal to
lose its structural integrity, resulting in melting and potential reflow. This can disrupt the
intended layout and connections within the microcircuit.
2. Loss of Electrical Contacts: If the metal layer melts, it can lead to the loss of electrical
contacts between the metal and the underlying semiconductor or dielectric layers, which
can severely impact the functionality of the device.
3. Degradation of Device Performance: The melting of metal can lead to changes in the
electrical characteristics of the device, such as increased resistance or altered capacitance,
which can degrade overall performance.
4. Increased Contamination Risk: Melting can also lead to the mixing of materials, which
can introduce impurities and defects into the microcircuit, further compromising its
reliability and performance.

Therefore, to maintain the integrity and performance of the microcircuit, annealing is performed
only once during processing, after all implantation steps have been completed but before any
metal layers have been created