TRACE ELEMENT CHARCTERIZATION IN III-V COMPOUNDS BY SPUTTER INITIATED RESONANCE IONIZATION SPECTROSCOPY

THE VLSI AND VHISC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS OF THE AIR FORCE REQUIRE CHARACTERIZATION OF III-V COMPOUNDS WITH AN INTERFERENCE FREE, HIGHLY SENSITIVE ELEMENT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE HAVING GOOD LATERAL AND DEPTH RESOLUTION. SPUTTER INITIATED RESONANCE IONIZATION SPECTROSCOPY (SIRIS), AN ULTRASENSITIVE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY ATOM SCIENCES, HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN SILICON TO HAVE GOOD SENSITIVITY AND BE INTERFERENCE FREE. DETECTION LIMITS OF 2 PPB (1X10 TO THE 14TH POWER/CM3) HAVE BEEN SHOWN FOR GALLIUM IN BULK SILICON. THE LATERAL AND DEPTH RESOLUTION OF THE PRESENT APPARATUS ARE NOT ADEQUATE FOR THE PRESENT AND FUTURE NEEDS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY. LATERAL RESOLUTION OF 100 TO 5 MICRONS ARE NECESSARY. RESOLUTIONS INTO THE SUBMICRON RANGE WILL BE REQUIRED IN THE FUTURE. WE PROPOSE TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING THE SIRIS TECHNIQUE AND APPARATUS WILL BE TESTED FOR IMPROVED SENSITIVITY AND LATERAL RESOLUTION. THE FEASIBILITY FOR IMPROVING LATERAL RESOLUTION TO 5 MICRONS IN PHSE II OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL BE DETERMINED.