Method for growing single crystal diamond from silicon wafer
By using the ALD method to grow single crystal diamonds layer by layer by layer on silicon wafers, the problem of diamond wafers cannot be commercially used is solved, and low-cost and high-quality single crystal diamond growth is achieved, which is suitable for high-end semiconductor devices.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202510450576.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-04-11
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-11
AI Technical Summary
In the prior art, diamond wafers cannot be used to manufacture high-end semiconductor devices, and small single crystal diamond sheets grown by MPCVD are costly and have many defects, so they cannot be commercially used.
Silicon wafers are used as substrates, and epitaxial silicon atoms and carbon atoms are used to control the carbon/silicon ratio by layer by layer, thereby growing single crystal diamonds on silicon wafers, reducing heteroepitaxial stress and reducing defects.
It realizes efficient growth of single crystal diamonds on silicon wafers, reducing costs and reducing defects, and provides diamond wafers suitable for high-end semiconductor devices.
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of silicon wafer processing, and specifically to a method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer. Background Art
[0002] Silicon wafer: The wafer is made by purifying silicon element (99.999%), and then these pure silicons are made into long silicon ingots, which become the material for manufacturing quartz semiconductors of integrated circuits. After processes such as photolithography, grinding, polishing, and slicing, the polysilicon is melted and pulled into a single-crystal silicon ingot, and then cut into thin wafers one by one.
[0003] Diamond is the ultimate semiconductor and can be used to make high-end chips such as overclocked computing chips (such as CPUs), power components extremely resistant to voltage (such as IGBTs), and power amplifiers with extremely high current (such as HEMTs). However, there is currently no diamond wafer available for manufacturing semiconductor devices. The small single-crystal diamond wafers grown by MPCVD are not only too expensive but also full of defects and cannot be used as commercial semiconductor chips. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer to solve the above technical problems. Summary of the Invention
[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer to solve the technical problem proposed in the above background art that diamond is the ultimate semiconductor and can be used to make high-end chips such as overclocked computing chips (such as CPUs), power components extremely resistant to voltage (such as IGBTs), and power amplifiers with extremely high current (such as HEMTs). However, there is currently no diamond wafer available for manufacturing semiconductor devices. The small single-crystal diamond wafers grown by MPCVD are not only too expensive but also full of defects and cannot be used as commercial semiconductor chips.
[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:
[0006] A method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer, which uses the atomic lattice of the silicon wafer as a template, takes the silicon wafer as a substrate, and then epitaxially deposits silicon atoms and carbon atoms layer by layer by atomic layer deposition method. When depositing, silicon is epitaxially deposited first, and then carbon is added layer by layer. After 100 to 1000 layers, a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer is formed, and the carbon / silicon ratio ranges from zero at the beginning to 100% at the end, thereby obtaining a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer.
[0007] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the gas components of the deposition method are silane and methane diluted with hydrogen.
[0008] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, a silicon wafer with a palladium-plated surface is used as the substrate, and the proportion of carbon atoms is increased from low to high by epitaxial deposition with ALD method to form a single-crystal surface silicon wafer.
[0009] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the specific steps of the method are as follows:
[0010] Step 1: Use an eight-inch silicon wafer as a substrate, etch its surface with KOH solution until the atomic lattice is exposed, and sputter a palladium film on it to adsorb the gas of ALD.
[0011] Step 2: Then introduce hydrogen by ALD, which contains a mixture of 1% silicon melt and methane, and heat the silicon substrate to 900 °C.
[0012] Step 3: Arrange ECR above the silicon surface to excite the gas to form plasma. After about 500 layers of ALD growth, it becomes a single-crystal plane silicon wafer.
[0013] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the silicon wafer is used to manufacture CPU, GPU, and IGBT semiconductor components.
[0014] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the eight-inch silicon wafer is a 100-plane and non-doped.
[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:
[0016] A method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to the present invention uses the existing large-scale silicon wafer industry. Taking the silicon wafer as a substrate, epitaxially growing layer by layer by atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, the gas components are silane and methane diluted with hydrogen. When depositing, silicon is epitaxially grown first, and then carbon is added layer by layer. After 100 to 1000 layers, it becomes a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer, so that the stress of heteroepitaxy can be reduced to the lowest, and the single-crystal diamond can inherit very few defects of the silicon crystal grown by liquid-phase pulling. Specific Embodiments
[0017] The following further details the present application in conjunction with embodiments. It can be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the related invention and are not intended to limit the invention.
[0018] Please refer to a method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer. The method uses the atomic lattice of the silicon wafer as a template, takes the silicon wafer as a substrate, and then epitaxially grows silicon atoms and carbon atoms layer by layer by atomic layer deposition method. When depositing, silicon is epitaxially grown first, and then carbon is added layer by layer. After 100 to 1000 layers, it becomes a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer, and the carbon / silicon ratio ranges from zero at the beginning to 100% at the end, thereby obtaining a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer.
[0019] Among them, the gas components of the deposition method are silane and methane diluted with hydrogen.
[0020] Among them, use a silicon wafer with a palladium-plated surface as a substrate, and epitaxially grow by ALD deposition method to increase the proportion of carbon atoms to become a single-crystal plane silicon wafer.
[0021] Among them, the specific steps of the method are as follows:
[0022] Step 1: Using an eight-inch silicon wafer as the substrate, etch its surface with KOH solution until the atomic lattice is exposed, and then sputter a palladium film on it to adsorb the gas for ALD;
[0023] Step 2: Then, introduce hydrogen into the ALD, which contains a mixture of 1% silicon melt and methane, and heat the silicon substrate to 900 °C;
[0024] Step 3: Arrange an ECR above the silicon surface to excite the gas to form plasma. After about 500 layers of ALD growth, it becomes a single-crystal plane silicon wafer.
[0025] Among them, the silicon wafer is used to manufacture CPU, GPU, and IGBT semiconductor components.
[0026] Among them, the eight-inch silicon wafer has a 100 plane and is non-doped.
[0027] It should be noted that for the method of growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer, the existing large-scale silicon wafer industry is used. The silicon wafer is used as the substrate, and epitaxy is carried out layer by layer by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. The gas components are silane and methane diluted with hydrogen;
[0028] The atomic layer deposition (ALD) method is a method that can deposit substances on the surface of the substrate layer by layer in the form of a single atomic layer. Atomic layer deposition is a method (technique) in which gaseous precursors are pulsed alternately into the reactor and chemically adsorbed and reacted on the deposition substrate to form a deposition film;
[0029] When the precursors reach the surface of the deposition substrate, they will chemically adsorb on its surface and undergo surface reactions. Between the precursor pulses, the atomic layer deposition reactor needs to be cleaned with an inert gas. It can be seen from this that whether the deposition reaction precursor substances can chemically adsorb on the surface of the deposited material is the key to realizing atomic layer deposition. From the surface adsorption characteristics of gaseous substances on the substrate material, any gaseous substance can physically adsorb on the material surface, but chemical adsorption on the material surface must have a certain activation energy;
[0030] Finally, during deposition, silicon is epitaxied first, and then carbon is added layer by layer. After 100 to 1000 layers, it becomes a single-crystal diamond surface silicon wafer. In this way, the stress of heteroepitaxy can be reduced to the lowest level, and the single-crystal diamond can inherit very few defects of the silicon crystal grown by liquid-phase pulling; the content not described in detail in this description belongs to the prior art well-known to those skilled in the art.
[0031] Example 1
[0032] Using an eight-inch silicon wafer as the substrate, the eight-inch silicon wafer has a 100 plane and is un-doped. Then, its surface is etched with KOH solution until the atomic lattice is exposed, and a palladium film is sputtered on it to adsorb the gas for ALD. Then, hydrogen gas containing a 1% mixture of silicon melt and methane is introduced by ALD, and the silicon substrate is heated to 900 °C. An ECR is arranged above the silicon surface to ionize the gas into plasma. After about 500 layers of ALD growth, a single-crystal plane silicon wafer is formed.
[0033] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application and the explanation of the applied technical principles. Those skilled in the art should understand that the scope of the invention involved in the present application is not limited to the technical solution formed by the specific combination of the above technical features, and should also cover other technical solutions formed by any combination of the above technical features or their equivalent features without departing from the inventive concept. For example, the technical solutions formed by mutually replacing the above features with the technical features (but not limited to) having similar functions disclosed in the present application.
Claims
1. A method for growing single crystal diamond on a silicon wafer, characterized in that: This method uses the atomic lattice of a silicon wafer as a template, with the silicon wafer as the substrate. Then, silicon atoms and carbon atoms are epitaxially deposited layer by layer using the atomic layer deposition method. During deposition, silicon is epitaxially deposited first, and then carbon is added layer by layer. After 100 to 1000 layers, a single-crystal diamond-faced silicon wafer is formed, and the carbon / silicon ratio ranges from zero initially to 100% finally, thereby obtaining a single-crystal diamond-faced silicon wafer.
2. The method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to claim 1, wherein: The gas components for the deposition method are silane and methane diluted with hydrogen.
3. A method for growing single-crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to claim 1, characterized in that: Using a silicon wafer with a palladium coating on the surface as the substrate, the proportion of carbon atoms is increased from low to high by epitaxial deposition using the ALD method to form a single-crystal surface silicon wafer.
4. A method for growing single crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The specific steps of this method are as follows: Step 1: Use an eight-inch silicon wafer as the substrate, etch its surface with a KOH solution until the atomic lattice is exposed, and sputter a palladium film on it to adsorb the ALD gas; Step 2: Then, introduce hydrogen into the ALD, which contains a 1% mixture of silicon melt and methane, and heat the silicon substrate to 900 °C; Step 3: Arrange an ECR above the silicon surface to ionize the gas to form a plasma. After about 500 layers of ALD growth, a single-crystal surface silicon wafer is formed.
5. A method for growing single crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The silicon wafer is used to manufacture CPU, GPU, and IGBT semiconductor components.
6. A method for growing single crystal diamond on a silicon wafer according to claim 4, characterized in that: The eight-inch silicon wafer has 100 planes and is non-doped.