Novel ion implantation technology based on a specific energy filter for the production of semiconductor micro-chips for devices and wafers made of silicon carbide (SiC)

Microelectronic power devices based on the semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC) have superior properties compared to devices made of Silicon (Si). One of the key processes during the production of any SiC power device is the doping of the active epitaxial layer. Unfortunately, today’s microchip production cannot fully exploit the advantages of SiC, since the doping variance of the active layer is rather high (more than 10% doping variation for N (nitrogen) in SiC over a 6” wafer is common). This directly translates into negative device performance and higher chip cost. Until recently, no technical solutions to overcome this problem were known, that are scalable to production volume. However, a German start-up high-tech company with focus on micro-engineering tools for processing semiconductors has recently developed a novel high-energy ion implantation technology. This technology is based on an energy filter for ion implantation (EFII), which allows for very precise, depth-distributed doping of any desired semiconductor material. The EFII technology overcomes the mentioned problems in semiconductor processing in a scalable manner. It especially offers a highly-precise, flexible solution for the doping problem in SiC; less than 3% doping variation for N (nitrogen) in SiC over a 6” wafer). The EFII technology is offered to semiconductor power device manufacturer which are in particular, but not exclusively dealing with silicon carbide (SiC) high-voltage diodes, MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors) and superjunction devices and also to SiC substrate suppliers. Furthermore EFII is offered to high-energy ion implantation foundries, ion beam accelerator manufacturers and end-station manufacturers. For all target groups technical cooperation agreements and/or commercial agreements with technical assistance are envisaged.