Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation Facility and Research in Hong Kong

A new plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) facility consisting of two PIII instruments and ancillary equipment has been established in Hong Kong. The larger implanter has a stainless steel vacuum chamber 1000 mm in diameter and 1200 nm in height. It incorporates conventional and special features to generate gas and metal plasmas, such as four sets of multi-filaments devices, four sets of MEVVA plasma sources, a set of 13.56MHz - 2kW RF plasma source, a set of antenna system, and a set of RF/DC sputtering deposition system, It is being used for metal plasma deposition, metal plasma immersion ion implantation, plasma (including gas and metal plasmas) enhanced deposition, dynamic mixing implantation, RF plasma nitriding (or carburizing) and nitrogen plasma immersion ion implantation. The second instrument is designed for microelectronic applications. It is optimized for planar samples up to 300-mm in diameter. The lateral plasma uniformity is better than ±2% across the sample stage which has heating and cooling control. The current research is on the fabrication of silicon-on-insulator by means of SIMOX (separation by implantation of oxygen) and wafer bonding (smart cutting). In this paper, we will describe the special features of the PIII facility and PIII research activities in Hong Kong.