Dopant ink compositions for forming doped regions in semiconductor substrates, and methods for fabricating dopant ink compositions

1. A dopant ink composition comprising:

a dopant-silicate carrier formed by a dopant compound and a silicon-containing compound, wherein the dopant compound includes at least one alkyl group bonded to a a Group 15 element, and wherein the dopant compound and the silicon-containing compound are bonded together via a silicon-oxygen-dopant ion linkage; and

at least one solvent.

2. The dopant ink composition of claim 1 wherein the solvent is selected to formulate a product selected from the group consisting of inkjet ink, screen printing paste, and spin coating dopant.

3. The dopant ink composition of claim 1 wherein the dopant-silicate carrier and solvent form a non-aqueous mixture that is stable at room temperature for at least two weeks.

4. The dopant ink composition of claim 1 wherein the dopant compound is alkyl phosphate and has a molecular formula of:

(R 1 O)(R 2 O)P(O)(OR 3 )

and wherein each of R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 is a hydrogen or a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms.

5. The dopant ink composition of claim 4 wherein each of R 1 and R 2 is a hydrocarbon group having 4 to 8 carbon atoms.

6. A dopant ink composition comprising:

a dopant compound including at least one alkyl group bonded to a Group 15 element; and

a silicon-containing compound.

7. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 wherein the dopant compound is alkyl phosphate and has a molecular formula of:

(R 1 O)(R 2 O)P(O)(OR 3 )

and wherein each of R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 is a hydrogen or a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms.

8. The dopant ink composition of claim 7 wherein each of R 1 and R 2 is a hydrocarbon group having 4 to 8 carbon atoms.

9. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 wherein the silicon-containing compound has a molecular formula of:

R 1 O(Si(OR) 2 O) n (M 1 M 2 SiO) m OR 2

wherein each of R, R 1 , and R 2 is a hydrogen or a carbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and wherein each of M 1 and M 2 is a hydrogen, a carbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, or a hydroxyl or alkoxyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms.

10. The dopant ink composition of claim 9 wherein the silicon-containing compound has a molecular weight of about 500 to about 50000.

11. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 further comprising a first solvent having a boiling point greater than 200° C. and a second solvent having a boiling point greater than 140° C.

12. The dopant ink composition of claim 11 wherein the first solvent is tripropylene glycol n-butyl ether, and wherein the second solvent is diethylene glycol monomethyl ether.

13. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 further comprising a surfactant selected from the group consisting of silicone polyether acrylate, polyether siloxane copolymer, and polyether modified polydimethylsiloxane.

14. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 wherein the dopant compound and the silicon-containing compound are bonded together to form a carrier.

15. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 wherein the dopant compound and the silicon-containing compound are bonded together via silicon-oxygen-Group 15 element linkages.

16. The dopant ink composition of claim 6 wherein the Group 15 element is a phosphorus ion, and wherein the dopant compound and the silicon-containing compound are bonded together via silicon-oxygen-phosphorus linkages.

17. A method for fabricating a dopant ink composition for forming doped regions in a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising:

providing a dopant compound including at least one alkyl group bonded to a a Group 15 element;

providing a silicon-containing compound; and

mixing the dopant compound and the silicon-containing compound and forming a dopant-silicate carrier including silicon-oxygen-dopant ion linkages.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the mixing step includes adding a solvent to form a non-aqueous mixture including the dopant-silicate carrier.