Etch Rate of Oxide Grown on Silicon Implanted with Different Ion Implantation Conditions prior to Oxidation

The experimental studies for the etch properties of the oxide grown on silicon substrate, which is in diluted hydrogen fluoride (HF) solution, are presented. Using different ion implantation dosages, dopants and energies, silicon substrate was implanted. The wet etching in diluted HF solution is used as a mean of wafer cleaning at various steps of VLSI processing. It is shown that the wet etch rate of oxide grown on various implanted silicon substrates is a strong function of ion implantation dopants, dosages and energies. This phenomenon has never been reported before. This paper shows that the difference of wet etch rate of oxide by ion implantation conditions is attributed to the kinds and volumes of dopants which was diffused out into $SiO_2$ from implanted silicon during thermal oxidation.