Methods of forming dilute nitride materials for use in photoactive devices and related structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9337377-B2
Application number	US-201213720524-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2012
Priority date	Dec 23, 2011
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) or ALD-like deposition processes are used to fabricate dilute nitride III-V semiconductor materials. A first composition of process gases may be caused to flow into a deposition chamber, and a group V element other than nitrogen and one or more group III elements may be adsorbed over the substrate (in atomic or molecular form). Afterward, a second composition of process gases may be caused to flow into the deposition chamber, and N and one or more group III elements may be adsorbed over the substrate in the deposition chamber. An epitaxial layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material may be formed over the substrate in the deposition chamber from the sequentially adsorbed elements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of fabricating a dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material, comprising:
using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to epitaxially grow a monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over a substrate in a deposition chamber, the ALD process including:
a first step of flowing a first plurality of process gases into the deposition chamber, the first plurality of process gases including an arsenic-containing precursor gas, and depositing a first layer comprising As and one or more of B, Al, Ga, In, and Ti over the substrate in the deposition chamber from the first plurality of process gases, the first layer being at least substantially free of N, wherein the substrate is heated to a temperature of at least 500° C. during deposition of the first layer; and
after the first step, a second step of flowing a second plurality of process gases into the deposition chamber, the second plurality of process gases including a nitrogen-containing precursor gas, and depositing a second layer comprising N and one or more of B, Al, Ga, In, and Ti over the substrate in the deposition chamber from the second plurality of process gases, wherein the substrate is heated to a temperature of at least 800° C. during deposition of the second layer; and
sequentially repeating the first step and the second step one or more times so as to form the monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of process gases is at least substantially free of nitrogen-containing precursor gas.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of process gases is at least substantially free of arsenic-containing precursor gas.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to epitaxially grow a monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over the substrate comprises forming GaInNAs over the substrate.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising forming the GaInNAs to comprise Ga 1-y In y N x As 1-x , wherein y is greater than 0.0 and less than 1.0, and x is between 0.1 and 0.5.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising forming the GaInNAs to exhibit a bandgap energy of between 0.9 eV and 1.2 eV.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting the first plurality of process gases to include an indium-containing precursor gas, a gallium-containing precursor gas, and an arsenic-containing precursor gas.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise AsR 3 , wherein each R is individually selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, and vinyl groups.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise at least one of arsine and a metalorganic arsine precursor.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise arsine.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise tertiarybutylarsine.

12. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting the second plurality of process gases to include an indium-containing precursor gas, a gallium-containing precursor gas, and a nitrogen-containing precursor gas.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising selecting the nitrogen-containing precursor gas to comprise ammonia.

14. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting the substrate to comprise GaAs, and wherein using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to epitaxially grow a monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over the substrate comprises epitaxially growing the GaInNAs directly on the GaAs.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a multi-junction photovoltaic cell comprising the dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a light-emitting device comprising the dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising forming the light-emitting device to comprise a laser diode.

18. A method of fabricating a photoactive device, comprising:
positioning a substrate within a deposition chamber; and
using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to epitaxially grow a monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over the substrate in the deposition chamber, the ALD process including:
a first step of heating the substrate to a temperature of at least 500° C. while flowing a first composition of process gases into the deposition chamber and adsorbing As and one or more of B, Al, Ga, In, and Ti over the substrate in the deposition chamber;
after the first step, a second step of heating the substrate to a temperature of at least 800° C. while flowing a second composition of process gases into the deposition chamber and adsorbing N and one or more of B, Al, Ga, In, and Ti over the substrate in the deposition chamber; and
sequentially repeating the first step and the second step one or more times and epitaxially growing the monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over the substrate in the deposition chamber from the adsorbed elements over the substrate.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) epitaxially grow a monocrystalline layer of dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material over the substrate comprises forming an epitaxial layer of GaInNAs over the substrate.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising forming the GaInNAs to comprise Ga 1-y In y N x As 1-x , wherein y is greater than 0.0 and less than 1.0, and x is between 0.1 and 0.5.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising forming the GaInNAs to exhibit a bandgap energy of between 0.9 eV and 1.2 eV.

22. The method of claim 18 , further comprising formulating the first composition of process gases to be at least substantially free of nitrogen-containing precursor gas.

23. The method of claim 18 , further comprising formulating the second composition of process gases to be at least substantially free of arsenic-containing precursor gas.

24. The method of claim 18 , wherein flowing a first composition of process gases into the deposition chamber comprises flowing an arsenic-containing precursor gas into the deposition chamber, the arsenic-containing precursor gas comprising AsR 3 , wherein each R is individually selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, and vinyl groups.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise at least one of arsine and a metalorganic arsine precursor.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise arsine.

27. The method of claim 25 , further comprising selecting the arsenic-containing precursor gas to comprise tertiarybutylarsine.

28. The method of claim 18 , further comprising forming a multi-junction photovoltaic cell comprising the dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material.

29. The method of claim 18 , further comprising forming a light-emitting device comprising the dilute nitride III-V semiconductor material.

30. The method of claim 29 , further comprising forming t

Assignees

• Soitec Silicon On Insulator

Inventors

• Arena Chantal
• Scott Robin
• Canizares Claudio

Classifications

• H10P14/3421

  Arsenides · CPC title

• H10P14/3416 Primary

  Nitrides · CPC title

• H10P14/24

  using chemical vapour deposition [CVD] · CPC title

• H10H20/825

  containing nitrogen, e.g. GaN · CPC title

• H10H20/813

  having a plurality of light-emitting regions, e.g. multi-junction LEDs or light-emitting devices having photoluminescent regions within the bodies · CPC title