Plasma source ion implantation

Plasma source ion implantation (PSII) is a relatively new technique for surface modification of materials and semiconductor processing. Although still in the developmental stage, it promises to be competitive with such conventional surface treatment methods as beam-line ion implantation, plasma (ion) nitriding, and physical vapor deposition (PVD). When scaled up from laboratory-sized installations, PSII has the potential to open up markets for treating large tools and components as well as stacks of workpieces without the need for transversal or rotation in vacuum. In addition to implantation, the PSII process can be used to deposit such overlay coatings as diamond-like carbon, with a degree of mixing at the interface that ensures good adhesion. Also, recent studies have demonstrated the ability of PSII to operate in the low-energy regime, without wafer charging effects, thereby providing a novel method for fabricating ultra-shallow semiconductor junctions. Commercialization of the PSII process is being hastened by a proliferation of R and D activities around the world. About half of those systems are based in the United States, including new, major PSII facilities installed at Hughes Aircraft and Los Alamos National Laboratory. At that PSII workshop, the Army Research Office (ARO) took the opportunity to make amore » critical panel assessment of this emerging technology. Its purpose was to evaluate the research, technology, and commercialization needs that would accelerate PSII's implementation for DOD and the Civilian sector. Most of the information provided in this article is drawn from that assessment.« less