Diamond SOI with thin silicon nitride layer and related methods
View Patent ↗A method and structure for a semiconductor device including a thin nitride layer formed between a diamond SOI layer and device silicon layer to block diffusion of ions and improve lifetime of the device silicon.
1. A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a device wafer, wherein forming the device wafer comprises:
forming an oxide layer on a device silicon layer,
forming a nitride barrier layer on the oxide layer,
forming a diamond layer on the nitride barrier layer,
depositing a thin nitride layer on the diamond layer,
depositing a polysilicon layer on the device wafer, and
planarizing the polysilicon on an active side of the device wafer;
the method of forming a semiconductor device further comprising:
attaching the device wafer to a handle wafer to form a device structure;
depositing polysilicon on the handle wafer side of the device structure; and
polishing a device side of the device structure to within about 3 to about 7 μm of a diamond-silicon interface of the device wafer.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing a nitride barrier at an interface of the diamond layer and the polysilicon, the nitride barrier totally encapsulating the diamond layer.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitride comprises silicon nitride.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thin nitride layer comprises a thickness of about 0.1 μm.
5. A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a thin pad oxide and thin nitride barrier layer on a silicon wafer;
forming a barrier seeding layer surface to promote diamond growth;
growing a diamond layer from the seeding layer;
depositing a thin nitride barrier layer on the diamond layer;
depositing polysilicon on the thin nitride barrier layer to form a polysilicon layer; and
polishing the polysilicon layer.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
selectively bonding the semiconductor device to a silicon layer.
7. A method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a thin pad oxide and thin nitride barrier on a silicon wafer;
forming one of a thin polysilicon layer or a thin oxide layer on the thin nitride barrier to promote diamond growth;
growing a seeding layer on the thin polysilicon layer or the thin oxide layer to promote diamond growth;
growing a diamond layer from the seeding layer;
depositing a thin nitride barrier layer on the diamond layer;
depositing polysilicon on the thin nitride barrier layer to form a polysilicon layer; and
polishing the polysilicon layer.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
selectively bonding the semiconductor device to a silicon layer.
9. A semiconductor device comprising:
a diamond silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer;
a device silicon layer;
a thin nitride layer between the diamond SOI layer and device silicon layer; and
a nitride barrier layer on a surface of the diamond SOI layer opposing the thin nitride layer, the diamond layer totally encapsulated by the thin nitride layer and nitride barrier layer.