Buried insulator regions and methods of formation thereof

1. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

forming a buried insulation region within a substrate by processing the substrate using etching and deposition processes, wherein forming the buried insulation region comprises forming a plurality of openings in a semiconductor substrate, and forming an oxide within the plurality of openings, wherein the forming of the oxide comprises converting regions of the semiconductor substrate between adjacent ones of the plurality of openings into the oxide;

forming a semiconductor layer over the buried insulation region at a first side of the substrate;

forming device regions in the semiconductor layer;

thinning the substrate from a second side of the substrate to expose the buried insulation region; and

forming a conductive region on the thinned second side of the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the buried insulation region to expose a bottom surface of the substrate; and

forming the conductive region under the bottom surface of the substrate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the device regions comprises:

forming a source region having a first conductivity type at the first side;

forming a drift region having the first conductivity type under the source region; and

forming a well region separating the source region from the drift region, the well region having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

implanting dopants into the bottom surface and activating the implanted dopants to form at least one of a drain region or a back side emitter after selectively removing the buried insulation region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the buried insulation region comprises forming a plurality of balloon shaped regions connected by thinner regions.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the buried insulation region comprises:

forming the plurality of openings in the semiconductor substrate by using an isotropic etching process.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein forming the plurality of openings comprises:

forming a plurality of first openings using a first anisotropic etching process;

forming a passivation layer at sidewalls and bottom surfaces of the plurality of first openings;

forming a plurality of second openings in the semiconductor substrate using a second anisotropic etching process, wherein the second anisotropic etching process comprises etching through the passivation layer at the bottom surfaces of the plurality of first openings; and

forming the plurality of openings by extending through the plurality of second openings using an isotropic etching process.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the semiconductor layer comprises forming a first epitaxial layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein forming the first epitaxial layer comprises forming an epitaxial overgrowth layer using a lateral epitaxial overgrowth process, wherein the epitaxial overgrowth layer covers the buried insulation region.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

forming a second epitaxial layer over the epitaxial overgrowth layer; and

forming the device regions in the second epitaxial layer.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the device region comprises a source and a p-body region of a transistor.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the semiconductor layer comprises:

depositing a semiconductor fill material; and

annealing the semiconductor layer and the substrate.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the semiconductor fill material comprises an amorphous material.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the semiconductor fill material comprises a polysilicon material.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising planarizing the deposited semiconductor fill material.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor layer covers the buried insulation region.