Impact of dose and energy of argon (Ar) and fluorine (F) ion implantation on uniformity of silicon oxidation

Oxidation rate of silicon was altered by implanting argon (⁴⁰Ar⁺) and fluorine (¹⁹F⁺) ions at doses ranging from 5×10¹³ to 1×10¹⁶ ions/cm² and energies ranging from 20 to 70 keV. Silicon wafers were oxidized using a rapid thermal oxidation system to retain post-implant conditions of the wafers until onset of oxidation cycle. Dramatic change in the uniformity of grown oxide was observed as a function of implantation dose and energy. Uniformity was found improving with increased implantation dose, whereas, it deteriorated with increased implantation energy. Two phenomenological models are proposed to explain the improvement in uniformity of the grown oxide films.