Indium transient enhanced diffusion

Indium, an acceptor dopant in silicon, is a large atom with a low diffusion coefficient potentially suitable for doping the channel of transistors. Systematic experiments are described which measure the susceptibility of indium to transient enhanced diffusion caused by ion implant damage introduced during the transistor fabrication process. We find that indium diffusion is dramatically enhanced by a source of interstitials and that the amount of enhancement is comparable to that seen for boron. Indium is preferable as a channel dopant not because of its diffusion behavior, but rather because a narrow ion implanted distribution can be obtained using the heavy indium ion, giving a more steeply retrograde profile than can be achieved by boron doping. These results help clarify the physics of indium and boron doping in small devices. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)02436-X].