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EP0356059A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Process for doping crystals of wide band gap semiconductors

Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1989-08-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-08-07
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Abstract

Abstract Non-equilibrium impurity incorporation is used to dope hard-to-dope crystals of wide band gap semicon­ductors, such as zinc selenide and zinc telluride. This involves incorporating into the crystal a compensating pair of primary and secondary dopants, thereby to increase the solubility of either dopant alone in the crystal. Thereafter, the secondary more mobile dopant is removed preferentially, leaving the primary dopant predominant. This technique is used to dope zinc selenide p-type by the use of nitrogen as the primary dopant and lithium as the secondary dopant. Alternatively, the technique may use nitrogen as the primary dopant and the hydrogen as the secondary dopant to obtain low resistivity p-type zinc selenide.

Inventors

  • 👤 Gertrude F. Neumark

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 09:44
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10H; H10H20/00; H10H20/01; H10H20/011; H10H20/012; H10H20/80; H10H20/81; H10H20/822; H10H20/823; H10H20/8232; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; H10P14/26; H10P14/263; H10P14/29; H10P14/2901; H10P14/2913; H10P14/2916; H10P14/34; H10P14/3402; H10P14/3424; H10P14/3428; H10P14/3431; H10P14/3432; H10P14/3438; H10P14/3441; H10P14/3442; H10P14/3444; H10P32/00

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 125 words
A process for the non-equilibrium incorporation of a dopant into a crystal of a wide band gap semiconductor comprising the steps of treating the crystal in the presence of first and second compensating dopants of different mobilities for introducing substan­tially equal amounts of the two dopants into at least a portion of the crystal such that the concentration of the less mobile of the two dopants in said portion of the crystal is in excess of the solubility of the less mobile dopant therein in the absence of the more mobile of the two dopants, and then preferentially removing therefrom the more mobile of the two dopants whereby there is left a non-equilibrium concentration of the less mobile dopant in said portion of the crystal.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 125 words
A process for the non-equilibrium incorporation of a dopant into a crystal of a wide band gap semiconductor comprising the steps of treating the crystal in the presence of first and second compensating dopants of different mobilities for introducing substan­tially equal amounts of the two dopants into at least a portion of the crystal such that the concentration of the less mobile of the two dopants in said portion of the crystal is in excess of the solubility of the less mobile dopant therein in the absence of the more mobile of the two dopants, and then preferentially removing therefrom the more mobile of the two dopants whereby there is left a non-equilibrium concentration of the less mobile dopant in said portion of the crystal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 26 words
The process of claim 1 in which the semiconductor is zinc selenide and the more mobile dopant is lithium and the less mobile dopant is nitrogen.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 26 words
The process of claim 1 in which the semiconductor is zinc selenide and the more mobile dopant is hydrogen and the less mobile dopant is nitrogen.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 26 words
The process of claim 1 in which the semiconductor is zinc telluride and the more mobile dopant is lithium and the less mobile dopant is chlorine.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 26 words
The process of claim 1 in which the semiconductor is zinc telluride and the more mobile dopant is hydrogen and the less mobile dopant is chlorine.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 29 words
The process of claim 1 in which the more mobile dopant can move via interstitial sites and the less mobile dopant is at a substitutional site in the crystal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 143 words
The process of forming a p-n junction diode in a crystal of a wide band gap semiconductor comprising the steps of preparing a crystal of the semiconductor of one conductivity type and growing on a surface of the crystal an epitaxial layer that includes a compensating pair of primary and secondary dopants in substantially equal amounts, such that the concentration of the primary dopant in the layer is in excess of the solubility of the primary dopant in the layer in the absence of the secon­dary dopant, where the primary dopant is characteristic of the conductivity type opposite that of said crystal and is less mobile than the secondary dopant, and removing selectively the secondary dopant from the layer to leave it of the opposite conductivity type, where the dopant remaining in the layer is predomi­nantly the primary dopant in a non-equilibrium concentration.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 143 words
The process of forming a p-n junction diode in a crystal of a wide band gap semiconductor comprising the steps of preparing a crystal of the semiconductor of one conductivity type and growing on a surface of the crystal an epitaxial layer that includes a compensating pair of primary and secondary dopants in substantially equal amounts, such that the concentration of the primary dopant in the layer is in excess of the solubility of the primary dopant in the layer in the absence of the secon­dary dopant, where the primary dopant is characteristic of the conductivity type opposite that of said crystal and is less mobile than the secondary dopant, and removing selectively the secondary dopant from the layer to leave it of the opposite conductivity type, where the dopant remaining in the layer is predomi­nantly the primary dopant in a non-equilibrium concentration.

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