ClusterBoronTM Implants on a High Current Implanter

Tom Horsky SemEquip, 34 Sullivan Rd. North Billerica, MA 01862 Advanced p-junction process tool throughput continues to be one of the principal drivers of the industry. First results from an octadecaborane (B18H22) ClusterIon(R) source integrated on an existing high current implant tool are presented. Beam current, throughput and process results are reported. The dose multiplication effect of the use of B18H22 means that an electrical current of 1mA produces a dopant flux equivalent to 18mA, while the energy equipartition means that a 20keV octadecaborane ion is process equivalent to a 1keV boron beam. Some modifications to a traditional high current beamline design were made in order to take advantage of the opportunities presented by this new ion source. A somewhat larger extraction slot was used and this, coupled with the fact that the ions have a large mass (210 amu) and therefore have high magnetic rigidity even at modest energies, drove the optics design toward a parallel-to-point configuration. Good mass resolution and control of beam size were demonstrated. Beam currents and throughput that are significantly higher than those available from traditional high current implanters were achieved, along with good process results.