Publications

Chemistry - A European Journal

Frederick, Esther F.; Campbell, Quinn C.; Kolesnichenko, Igor K.; Pena, Luis F.; Benavidez, Angelica; Anderson, Evan M.; Wheeler, David R.; Misra, Shashank M.

Ultradoping introduces unprecedented dopant levels into Si, which transforms its electronic behavior and enables its use as a next-generation electronic material. Commercialization of ultradoping is currently limited by gas-phase ultra-high vacuum requirements. Solvothermal chemistry is amenable to scale-up. However, an integral part of ultradoping is a direct chemical bond between dopants and Si, and solvothermal dopant-Si surface reactions are not well-developed. This work provides the first quantified demonstration of achieving ultradoping concentrations of boron (∼1e14 cm2) by using a solvothermal process. Surface characterizations indicate the catalyst cross-reacted, which led to multiple surface products and caused ambiguity in experimental confirmation of direct surface attachment. Density functional theory computations elucidate that the reaction results in direct B−Si surface bonds. This proof-of-principle work lays groundwork for emerging solvothermal ultradoping processes.

Allemang, Christopher R.; Anderson, Evan M.; Baczewski, Andrew D.; Bussmann, Ezra B.; Butera, Robert E.; Campbell, DeAnna M.; Campbell, Quinn C.; Carr, Stephen M.; Frederick, Esther F.; Gamache, Phillip G.; Gao, Xujiao G.; Grine, Albert D.; Gunter, Mathew M.; Halsey, Connor H.; Ivie, Jeffrey A.; Katzenmeyer, Aaron M.; Leenheer, Andrew J.; Lepkowski, William L.; Lu, Tzu-Ming L.; Mamaluy, Denis M.; Mendez Granado, Juan P.; Pena, Luis F.; Schmucker, Scott W.; Scrymgeour, David S.; Tracy, Lisa A.; Wang, George T.; Ward, Dan W.; Young, Steve M.

While it is likely practically a bad idea to shrink a transistor to the size of an atom, there is no arguing that it would be fantastic to have atomic-scale control over every aspect of a transistor – a kind of crystal ball to understand and evaluate new ideas. This project showed that it was possible to take a niche technique used to place dopants in silicon with atomic precision and apply it broadly to study opportunities and limitations in microelectronics. In addition, it laid the foundation to attaining atomic-scale control in semiconductor manufacturing more broadly.

Frederick, Esther F.; Campbell, Quinn C.; Benavidez, Angelica B.; Kolesnichenko, Igor K.; Pena, Luis F.; Anderson, Evan M.; Wheeler, David R.; Misra, Shashank M.

Abstract not provided.