Architectures enabling back contact bottom electrodes for semiconductor devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10991836-B2
Application number	US-201716085422-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2017
Priority date	Mar 15, 2016
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

A semiconductor device and method for fabricating same is disclosed. Embodiments are directed to a semiconductor device and fabrication of same which include a polycrystalline or amorphous substrate. An electrically conductive Ion Beam-Assisted Deposition (IBAD) template layer is positioned above the substrate. At least one electrically conductive hetero-epitaxial buffer layer is positioned above the IBAD template layer. The at least one buffer layer has a resistivity of less than 100 μΩcm. The semiconductor device and method foster the use of bottom electrodes thereby avoiding complex and expensive lithography processes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A semiconductor device comprising:
a polycrystalline or amorphous substrate;
an electrically conductive Ion Beam-Assisted Deposition (IBAD) template layer positioned above the substrate; and
at least one electrically conductive hetero-epitaxial buffer layer positioned above the IBAD template layer, wherein the at least one buffer layer has a resistivity of less than 100 μΩcm, and wherein the at least one buffer layer comprises a fluorite structure that has a (004) out-of-plane orientation;
wherein the substrate comprises metal and functions as a back contact bottom electrode, or the semiconductor device further comprises a back contact bottom electrode positioned below the substrate.

2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the IBAD template layer comprises Titanium Nitride (TiN).

3. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one buffer layer does not comprise an oxide.

4. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the fluorite structure comprises Nickel Silicide (NiSi 2 ).

5. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising an electrically conductive amorphous layer positioned between the substrate and the IBAD template layer.

6. The semiconductor device of claim 5 , wherein the amorphous layer comprises Titanium Nitride (TiN) or Tantalum-Nickel (Ta—Ni).

7. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising an epitaxial Si film or an epitaxial Ge film positioned above the at least one buffer layer.

8. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising an epitaxial Si film positioned above the at least one buffer layer, and p-doped and n-doped silicon positioned above the epitaxial Si film, thereby forming a solar cell device or flexible electronics device.

9. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising an epitaxial Ge film positioned above the at least one buffer layer, and epitaxial GaAs film positioned on the epitaxial Ge film, and epitaxial p-doped and epitaxial n-doped GaAs layers positioned on the epitaxial GaAs film, thereby forming a solar cell device.

10. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises metal.

11. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises metal and functions as a bottom electrode.

12. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises glass.

13. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising a bottom electrode positioned below and attached to the substrate.

14. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is Hastelloy C-276 or Stainless Steel or Ni—W or Ni—Cr or Inconel or copper or a combination thereof.

15. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising a homo-epitaxial layer positioned between the IBAD template layer and the at least one buffer layer.

16. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein the homo-epitaxial layer comprises TiN.

17. The semiconductor device of claim 4 , wherein the fluorite structure has a resistivity of 5 μΩcm.

Assignees

• Univ Houston System

Inventors

• Selvamanickam Venkat

Classifications

• H10F77/1698

  the metallic or insulating substrates being flexible · CPC title

• H10F77/1692

  the films including only Group IV materials · CPC title

• H10F77/315

  the coatings being antireflective or having enhancing optical properties · CPC title

• H10F77/211

  for photovoltaic cells · CPC title

• H10F77/124

  comprising only Group III-V materials, e.g. GaAs · CPC title