Control of implant-damage-enhanced boron diffusion in epitaxially grown n-Si/p-Si1-xGex/n-Si heterojunction bipolar transistors

Boron out-diffusion in epitaxially grown n-Si/p⁺-Si_1-xGe_x/n-Si heterojunction bipolar transistors is significantly enhanced during 850°C, 10 s rapid thermal annealing following arsenic emitter contact implantation. In this paper, we introduce three techniques which dramatically reduce boron out-diffusion during implant activation. Limiting the post-implant processing to 600°C for 2 min results in minimal diffusion giving acceptable device performance. A second technique involves pulsed laser annealing of the As implant, which removes residual defects and eliminates enhanced diffusion during subsequent thermal processing. Finally, we show that high bulk concentrations of oxygen in the Si_1-xGe_x (∼10²⁰ cm^-3) dramatically reduce the implant-damage-enhanced boron diffusion. In addition to the depth profiles, electrical measurements performed on heterojunction bipolar transistors, incorporating these fabrication techniques, show ideal collector current characteristics and confirm the absence of deleterious boron out-diffusion effects.