Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

A 200 mm millisecond flash lamp annealing (FLA) prototype was developed beside the EU project DOTSEVEN, named after the target for the maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of 0.7 THz of a SiGe-HBT (Hetero Bipolar Transistor) [1]. The substitution of the final spike annealing (SPA) by FLA reduces the thermal budget despite higher peak temperatures. The development of the FLA process has to focus on the best dopant activation of the implants for high fmax and low deactivation of the intrinsic HBT base for high transit frequency (fT). For FLA the wafers are heated by halogen lamps to an intermediate temperature between 650°C and 850°C. The following Xenon flash lamp pulse increases the front surface temperature with an energy density between 10 J/cm² and 25 J/cm² within 1,0 ms (105 K/s). The pulse energy is limited by the occurrence of wafer breakage.
Among different experiments n-type Si (100) wafers (8-12 Ωcm) were pre amorphized with Germanium (5*1014/cm²; 15 keV) followed by Boron (B) (2*1015/cm²; 1 keV) [2]. FLA (780°C, 5s & 16 J/cm²) results in a suppressed B diffusion (Fig.1a) with concurrent higher activation (Rs = 202 Ω/sq) compared to spike annealing (SPA) at 1020°C with 250 K/s (Rs = 348 Ω/sq). The dopant loss trough the surface is about 30% for both annealings. A higher ratio of flash energy versus pre heat temperature (730°C, 5s & 23 J/cm²) enables a higher activation (Rs = 164 Ω/sq) with a steeper profile (5 nm/dec) and a negligible dopant loss. The slope can be adjusted from 5 nm/dec to 10 nm/dec. The second experiment is based on a model SiGe-HBT with a B base of 8 nm width at a concentration of 1018/cm³ to investigate the influence of the thermal treatment on the shape of the profile. SPA at 1020°C with 250 K/s results in a 40 nm broad profile. The reduction of this broadening down to 20 nm was defined as an internal project goal. FLA (780°C, 30s & 14 J/cm²) reduces the profile broadening by 10 nm. A stronger flash pulse with a colder pre heat (730°C, 5s & 21 J/cm²) achieve our requirements. Based on this FLA process an experimental SiGe HBT technology featuring fT / fmax / BVCEO = 505 GHz / 720 GHz / 1.6 V was developed.