Ion implantation system and ion implantation system for producing chained energy implantation of ions

Abstract

An ion implantation system and method selectively modulates the energy of an ion beam as a workpiece sequentially passes in front of it. The implantation system includes: an ion source for generating the ion beam; and an acceleration / deceleration stage for modifying the energy of the ion beam based on an electrical bias voltage supplied to the acceleration / deceleration stage. A workpiece support is disposed immediately downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage to support the workpiece as it passes through the energy-selectively modified ion beam, and is thermally controllable to control a temperature of the workpiece during the energy modification. The energy can be modified as the workpiece is positioned in front of the beam, and a controller can control the electrical bias voltage to control the energy modification of the ion beam, wherein a plurality of programmed formulations can be obtained during a single positioning of the workpiece on the workpiece support.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to ion implantation systems and methods, and more particularly to a system and method for delivering a selectively controlled variable-energy ion beam to a workpiece during ion implantation. [, Cross-reference to related applications , ] []

[0002] This application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 229,663, filed August 5, 2021, entitled "CHAINED MULTIPLE ENERGY IMPLANT PROCESS STEPS", and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 229,751, filed August 5, 2021, entitled "BLENDED ENERGY ION IMPLANTATION ION IMPLANTATION", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Prior Technology

[0003] In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, ion implantation is used to dope semiconductors with impurities. Ion implantation systems and methods are used to dope workpieces (such as semiconductor wafers) with ions from an ion beam to produce n-type or p-type material doping, or to form passivation layers during the fabrication of integrated circuits, and other processes. Such beam processing is often used to selectively implant wafers with impurities of a specified dopant material at predetermined energy levels and controlled concentrations or doses to produce semiconductor material during the fabrication of integrated circuits. When used to dope semiconductor wafers, the ion implantation system implants selected ions into the workpiece to produce the desired intrinsic material. For example, implantation with ions generated from a source material (such as antimony, arsenic, or phosphorus) produces "n-type" intrinsic material wafers, while "p-type" intrinsic material wafers are often produced by ions generated using a source material (such as boron, gallium, or indium).

[0004] A typical ion implanter includes an ion source, an ion extraction device, a mass analysis device, a beam delivery device, and a wafer processing device. The ion source generates ions of the desired atomic or molecular dopant species. These ions are extracted from the source by an extraction system (typically a set of electrodes) to form an ion beam, which powers and guides the ion stream from the source. The desired ions are separated from the ion beam in a mass analysis device, typically a magnetic dipole that performs mass dispersion or separation of the extracted ion beam. The beam delivery device, typically a vacuum system containing a series of focusing devices and other subsystems for manipulating the ion beam, delivers the ion beam to the wafer processing device while maintaining or modifying the desired properties of the ion beam. Finally, the semiconductor wafer is transferred into or out of the wafer processing device via a wafer handling system, which may include one or more robotic arms for placing the wafer to be processed in front of the ion beam and removing the processed wafer from the ion implanter.

[0005] Current ion implantation technology is based on a recipe implanted into a workpiece (also known as a substrate or wafer) under specific conditions. Such a recipe results in a given concentration profile within the substrate, which is typically determined by the type or desired species of dopants implanted, the density and composition of the workpiece, and implantation conditions such as the energy of the implanted species, the implantation angle of the ion beam relative to the surface of the workpiece (e.g., tilt or twist), and the total dose of implantation.

[0006] To establish a desired dopant profile that cannot be achieved with a single energy placement step, multiple placement steps of the same species are typically performed on the same substrate, usually using different combinations of energy, dose, tilt, or twist. While dose, tilt, and twist can be adjusted within a single placement cycle by breaking the placement process into multiple steps or so-called "chains" of placement steps, changing the placement energy typically necessitates significant adjustments to various settings of the ion placement system in the absence of workpieces, due to potential contamination. These adjustments add setup time, thus impacting the productivity of the ion placement system and process. Simultaneously, workpiece handling and hardware can induce particle contamination, workpiece misalignment associated with removing workpieces from the self-processing environment to accommodate these adjustments, and / or catastrophic wafer drop.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention covers ion implantation systems and methods, wherein energy chain implantation can be implemented such that the ion beam energy can be selectively changed and delivered to the workpiece for implanting ions therein while the workpiece is held on a workpiece support, while selectively changing the ion beam energy.

[0008] Furthermore, adjustments to upstream components (such as ion sources and ion extraction devices) typically require further adjustments to downstream components (such as mass analysis devices and beam delivery devices), and may necessitate the removal and replacement of substrates or workpieces from the processing environment between each step in the placement process, further impacting the productivity of the placement procedure. Simultaneously, workpiece handling and hardware issues can induce particle contamination, workpiece misalignment, and / or catastrophic wafer drop.

[0009] The present invention understands that this problem is particularly pronounced in low-temperature and / or high-temperature fabrication, where thermal budget constraints limit the length of time the workpiece is exposed to increased or decreased temperatures. Summary of the Invention

[0010] This invention covers an ion implantation system and method, wherein an energy chain implantation can be performed such that the ion beam energy can be selectively changed and delivered to a workpiece for implanting ions therein while the workpiece is held on a workpiece support, while selectively changing the ion beam energy. Therefore, this invention provides systems, apparatus, and methods for supplying a workpiece with a selectively variable ion beam. Consequently, a simplified overview of the invention is presented below to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This overview is not a comprehensive summary of the invention. It is neither intended to identify key or essential elements of the invention nor to describe the scope of the invention. Its purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0011] According to one example, an ion implantation system for generating a link-energy implantation of ions is provided, wherein the ion implantation system includes an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam. For example, an acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to receive the ion beam, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change the energy of the ion beam based on one or more inputs, thereby defining a selectively variable energy ion beam. Additionally, a single-workpiece terminal station is located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, wherein the single-workpiece terminal station includes a workpiece support configured to selectively position and maintain a single workpiece in front of the selectively variable energy ion beam for continuous ion implantation. For example, the single workpiece is maintained on the workpiece support within the terminal station while the energy of the ion beam is selectively changed.

[0012] According to another example, an ion implantation system is configured to provide a selectively variable energy ion beam to a workpiece. The ion implantation system includes: an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam; and an acceleration / deceleration stage configured to receive the ion beam. The acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change the energy of one of the ion beams based on one or more inputs to the acceleration / deceleration stage, thereby defining the selectively variable energy ion beam. For example, a terminal station is located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, wherein the terminal station includes a workpiece support configured to selectively position the workpiece before the selectively variable energy ion beam for ion implantation. For example, the workpiece is maintained on the workpiece support within the terminal station while the energy of the ion beam is selectively changed. Furthermore, for example, a thermal device is configured to control the temperature of the workpiece at a predetermined processing temperature on the workpiece support. For example, the predetermined processing temperature is associated with one of the high-temperature configuration and one of the low-temperature configurations of the ion implantation system, wherein the workpiece is maintained on the workpiece support in the terminal station while the selectivity of the energy of the ion beam changes.

[0013] In another example, an ion implantation system is configured to provide a selectively variable energy (CVE) ion beam to a workpiece and includes an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam. An acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to receive the ion beam, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change one energy of the ion beam based on one or more inputs to the acceleration / deceleration stage, thereby defining the CVE-1. Additionally, a terminal station is located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, wherein the terminal station includes a workpiece support configured to selectively position the workpiece before the CVE-1 for ion implantation, wherein the workpiece is maintained within the terminal station and continuously exposed to the ion beam as the energy of the ion beam is selectively changed.

[0014] To achieve the foregoing and related objectives, the present invention includes the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. Certain illustrative specific examples of the invention are set forth in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these specific examples indicate several ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed. Other objectives, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention (when considered in conjunction with the drawings). Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0015] [Figure 1A] is a block diagram of a portion of an ion implantation system of several states according to the present invention.

[0016] [Figure 1B] is a diagram illustrating various steps in an ion implantation process (e.g., energy chain implantation) at various energies according to several embodiments of the present invention.

[0017] [Figure 1C] illustrates several graphs showing the optimization of the ion implantation profile.

[0018] [Figure 2] illustrates an example of a processing flow, in which a workpiece is implanted to receive multiple implantation steps in a single workpiece ion implantation system.

[0019] [Figure 3] is a schematic block diagram of an example ion implantation system of several states according to the present invention.

[0020] [Figure 4] illustrates a portion of the ion beam in an exemplary accelerating / decelerating column of an ion implantation system of several forms according to the present invention.

[0021] [Figure 5] illustrates various methods for optimizing the implantation of ions into a workpiece according to the present invention. Implementation

[0022] This invention provides a system and method for implanting selectively variable energy distributions (e.g., with equal or varying doses) across multiple sequential implantation steps without requiring adjustments and modifications to various beamline assemblies and / or workpiece removal and replacement from / to the processing environment, as previously seen. The invention provides a range from simple methods that implant two discrete energies in sequential implantation steps while simultaneously holding the workpiece on a platen or chuck in the processing chamber, to more complex methods having a continuous distribution or range of energy implanted into the workpiece in a series of sequential implantation steps (again, without requiring removal of the workpiece from the platen or chuck in the processing chamber and subsequent reintroduction and repositioning of the workpiece on the platen or chuck in the processing chamber). For example, this invention can be utilized when there is a need to generate a box profile with a depth visible in semiconductor device fabrication based on dopant concentration.

[0023] The present invention is particularly advantageous in low-temperature and / or high-temperature implantation as described in U.S. Patent No. 8,450,193 to England et al. and U.S. Patent No. 9,048,276 to Lee et al. (the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety), and in various other systems in which thermal budget constraints limit the required length of time a workpiece is exposed to increased or decreased temperatures.

[0024] For example, in a single-wafer ion implantation process, a control system is used to "tune" the ion beam from the ion source to the final stage, such as a horizontal angle corrector magnet. The tuning process adjusts the power supplies coupled to a series of components that modify operating parameters affecting the ion beam at a series of predefined steps as the beam travels along the beamline. For example, the tuning process may include adjusting various electrical biases supplied to various components in the beamline (such as focusing elements, quadrupole lenses, deceleration or acceleration electrodes, and / or guiding, deflecting, or bending electrodes) while recording the appropriate angular offset required to compensate for the beam angle relative to the workpiece.

[0025] In the simplest and most specific example of the present invention, energy changes are performed in a series of placement steps to achieve a series of continuous placement steps on a single workpiece at different energies, all while maintaining the workpiece in its original position on a pressure plate in the processing station (e.g., maintaining the workpiece on an electrostatic chuck in the processing chamber or processing environment).

[0026] In one example of implantation, a first workpiece is loaded onto a pressure plate, which may include electrostatically clamping the workpiece to an electrostatic chuck coupled to a scanning mechanism. A dose is implanted onto the first workpiece with a first energy (e.g., a first sequential implantation step). Subsequently, a next combination of voltage, offset, waveform, and reference values ​​is loaded, and a second energy (e.g., a second sequential implantation step) is implanted. This procedure can be repeated with all desired energies and implantation steps before the first workpiece is removed from the pressure plate and scanning mechanism. Subsequently, a second workpiece can be loaded onto the pressure plate, and the control system can return to the first energy and repeat the steps described above for the first workpiece, and so on.

[0027] To date, such energy modifications between a series of sequential placement steps while holding the workpiece on the pressure plate have not been anticipated, as modifications to the various system components typically requiring such energy modifications are considered too time-consuming and thus detrimental to throughput. Specifically, for example, in the case of heated placement, holding the workpiece on a high-temperature pressure plate has been considered impractical due to thermal budget constraints (e.g., a term defining the total amount of heat energy transferred to the workpiece during a given high-temperature operation, which is typically proportional to the temperature and duration of the procedure).

[0028] According to the present invention, the inventors have innovatively understood that the final energy of the ion implantation step can be altered by adjusting, modifying, or otherwise controlling the electrical bias voltage supplied along the beamline to one or more downstream energy conditioning elements (such as final acceleration / deceleration stages (e.g., angle energy filters or "AEF", bending elements, etc.)). For example, the scanner waveform used to scan the ion beam can be further based, at least in part, on the voltage applied to one or more power supplies associated with the acceleration / deceleration stages. For example, the voltage applied to one or more power supplies associated with one or more beam bending elements configured to bend the ion beam once it reaches its final energy can be "disconnected" from the voltage applied to one or more power supplies associated with the acceleration / deceleration stages. For example, the controller is configured to change, alter, maintain, or otherwise supply voltage to the respective acceleration / deceleration stages and / or the subsequent final energy elements.

[0029] The energy control and adjustment capabilities provided by this invention advantageously minimize the handling of workpieces being processed. For example, compared to conventional systems where workpieces are moved multiple times between the load-locking chamber and the processing chamber to achieve multi-energy linkage deployment, this invention can deploy all the required energy into the workpiece while keeping the workpiece within the processing chamber without removing it, thus resulting in higher system productivity and / or lower yield losses attributable to handling errors or standby time effects.

[0030] For example, the present invention is advantageous in ion implantation systems (generally referred to as "implants") with downstream acceleration / deceleration capabilities (e.g., batch implanters configured to implant workpieces via point ion beams, and single-workpiece implanters configured to implant workpieces via scanning or strip ion beams). For example, to maintain energy purity in such implanters, an angular energy filter can be provided as a final component before the ion beam impacting the workpiece selectively implants the workpiece with the ion beam at the desired final energy, thereby filtering out deactivated particles.

[0031] In contrast, some implanters, such as those with post-acceleration magnets and other components for beam parallelism, are typically limited by the fact that such post-acceleration magnets and components are also typically subject to a series of adjustments to generate an ion beam with the desired characteristics. Such a series of adjustments is undesirable due to the time required to perform them. However, the present invention does not preclude the use of beamline elements for post-acceleration to achieve similar capabilities in such systems. Furthermore, regarding plasma-doped systems, or so-called plasma-wetting ion implantation (PIII), the present invention also provides dynamically tunable implantation energies for non-mass-selective species over a wider energy range than is practically possible with conventional plasma doping.

[0032] In jointly owned U.S. Patent No. 9,218,941 (the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference), a single-wafer placement system includes an exemplary beamline configuration configured to provide synchronization of energy tuning and ion beam scanning to construct patterned energy placement across the wafer. With such a beamline configuration, the prior art described above can also achieve energy chain placement capability in a single-wafer placement system, while maintaining the wafer on a wafer support within the processing chamber according to the present invention.

[0033] On the other hand, in conventional single-wafer ion placement systems, it is not considered practical to perform energy chain placement on the wafer to receive multiple placement steps with different energies and doses while simultaneously holding the wafer at the platen. The extended time required in most conventional single-wafer placement systems is attributed to the beamline architecture design, which retunes the ion beam when the energy changes. Therefore, to hold the wafer at the platen (e.g., a clamp or electrostatic chuck (ESC)) for receiving multiple placement steps with different energies, conventional systems typically require multiple time-consuming retuning operations of the beamline between energy changes, thus reducing system productivity.

[0034] However, the present invention anticipates that the acceleration / deceleration components are located downstream of the beamline, thus eliminating the need for tuning of any components downstream of the acceleration / deceleration components. Therefore, the present invention relates to a downstream acceleration / deceleration component configured to selectively change the ion beam energy, and a single-workpiece terminal station including a single-workpiece support configured to maintain only a single workpiece in front of a selectively variable energy ion beam while selectively changing the energy of the ion beam.

[0035] For example, problems encountered in conventional single-wafer ion-planting systems can be exacerbated in high-temperature planting processes where the wafer is preheated or heated on the ESC before being placed to allow for subsequent ion planting. In this case, it is conventionally unacceptable to keep the wafer on the ESC during energy changes, as the time involved in such energy changes would allow the wafer temperature to drop below the desired planting temperature, or expose the wafer to prolonged periods of high temperature. Examples of high-temperature ion-planting methods and systems can be found in U.S. Patent No. 7,655,933 to England et al. and U.S. Patent No. 9,378,992 to Huseinovic et al., the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0036] Similarly, concurrency issues related to changing placement energy and the long tuning time required to hold the wafer at the platen between placements at different energy levels can be problematic in cryogenic placement procedures, where the wafer is pre-cooled before being placed on the ESC, quenched on the ESC, and / or heated after placement to reduce the likelihood of condensation on the wafer after placement. In such cases, it may be difficult to maintain the wafer at the desired cryogenic temperature while holding it on the ESC during the typically time-consuming energy changes and associated retuning of various beamline components, thus requiring additional wafer handling steps to move the wafer to the pre-cooling station. Again, these wafer handling steps can be time-consuming, resulting in productivity losses and / or introducing contaminants onto the wafer, leading to yield losses. Examples of low-temperature ion implantation methods and systems can be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,244,820 to Kamata et al. and U.S. Patent No. 9,236,216 to Lee et al., the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0037] The present invention advantageously addresses these drawbacks and provides a high-productivity placement system configured to achieve energy chain placement while selectively changing the energy of the beam, and simultaneously maintaining the wafer on a wafer support in front of the ion beam. This improves the workpiece defect rate and device performance by minimizing the workpiece loading / unloading frequency and associated interruptions in the high vacuum environment of the placement system during energy changes.

[0038] The present invention therefore provides various systems, apparatus, and methods for providing energy chain implantation, wherein a workpiece can be continuously exposed to multiple energies in an ion implantation process while being presented in front of an ion beam, without the need to remove the workpiece from the processing environment during implantation, or even from the pressure plate to which it resides, such as an electrostatic clamp. The invention is further advantageous in temperature-controlled ion implantation, wherein the workpiece resides on a single heated or cooled clamp during energy changes, thereby improving productivity and various other benefits in hot and / or cold ion implantation applications.

[0039] According to one embodiment of the present invention, an energy chain implantation is provided, wherein multiple implantation operations are performed sequentially, such as implantation operations involving multiple energies and / or doses of the same ion species. The continuous energy chain implantation capability provided by the present invention not only provides increased productivity but also offers device benefits when a specific implantation ion profile requires multiple in-situ energies without disrupting the high vacuum environment and exposing the workpiece to the atmosphere. Furthermore, the present invention provides appropriate modifications and optimizations to the implantation profile for improved device performance, whereby such modifications and optimizations can be implemented without adversely affecting production efficiency and device yield.

[0040] For example, the system and method of the present invention are particularly advantageous when the system is configured for temperature-controlled implantation, such as in hot or cold implantation applications. For example, in hot implantation applications, the workpiece can be loaded into a preheating station to heat it from room temperature to a predetermined temperature. For example, the predetermined temperature may be lower than the final desired temperature for implantation. Once the workpiece is preheated, it can be placed on a heated ESC and further heated to the final desired temperature before implantation begins. After the workpiece is ion-implanted at varying depths by continuous and sequential exposure to ion beams of different energies, the workpiece is removed from the heated ESC and placed in a post-implantation cooling station before moving to the atmosphere.

[0041] In relatively low-dose implantation scenarios (e.g., where the ion beam implantation time on the workpiece is short), the preheating time, post-cooling time, and the time spent heating the workpiece to the final desired temperature at the ESC can all be considered critical paths in the ion implantation process and may affect system productivity. In relatively high-dose implantation scenarios (e.g., where the preheating and post-cooling times are short compared to the implantation time), these times may not be in the critical path, but the time spent heating the workpiece from the preheating temperature to the final desired temperature at the ESC may still be in the critical path.

[0042] Therefore, high-temperature placement, or so-called "hot" placement, can significantly reduce system productivity due to the additional time spent controlling workpiece temperature at the aforementioned different levels. This invention provides an energy chain placement method, which can be implemented for hot placement applications, wherein the workpiece can be held on a heated ESC until all individual hot placements at multiple energies can be completed. Therefore, according to the invention, a method is provided for heating a workpiece to a high temperature (e.g., from a preheating temperature to the final desired temperature on the ESC) in a single step, rather than heating the workpiece multiple times as is conventional. Therefore, the energy chain placement of this invention can significantly improve system productivity and increase potential device yield or performance benefits.

[0043] According to another example, the energy chain placement of this invention can further reduce defects in integrated circuit manufacturing at advanced technology nodes seen in current devices. For example, the mechanical movement associated with multiple transports of workpieces between the atmosphere and the processing chamber can add particles and defects to the workpiece, resulting in low yield. Defect reduction is particularly important in today's sub-nano semiconductor manufacturing. The energy chain placement system, apparatus, and method disclosed in this invention can significantly reduce the total movement of workpieces (e.g., loading / unloading) compared to chain placement that may require removing workpieces and workpiece supports from the beam path while energy changes are applied in the beamline, or may require removing workpieces from the terminal station, thereby anticipating a reduction in defects and improved device yield.

[0044] To provide a general overview of the various concepts of the present invention, FIG1A illustrates an example of a system 100 for implanting ions with continuously linked energy ions. According to one example, system 100 includes an ion source 102 configured to ionize doped material for generating an ion beam 104. A beamline assembly 106 is positioned downstream of the ion source 102, wherein the beamline assembly is configured to deliver the ion beam 104 toward a workpiece 108 positioned on a workpiece support 110 (e.g., a chuck) in a terminal station 112.

[0045] For example, an acceleration / deceleration stage 114 is further provided, configured to receive the ion beam during the delivery of the ion beam 104, and generate a variable-energy ion beam 116 for implantation into a workpiece 108 selectively positioned within a terminal station 112. In one example, one or more variable power sources 118, 120 (e.g., one or more power supplies) are operatively coupled to the acceleration / deceleration stage 114 and provide it with one or more electrical bias signals 122, 124 (e.g., voltage or current).

[0046] For example, one or more bias signals 122, 124 are applied to one or more electrodes 126 positioned above and below the ion beam 104 as they pass through the acceleration / deceleration stage 114. The acceleration / deceleration stage 114 may include, for example, one or more acceleration / deceleration electrodes 128 and one or more bending electrodes 130, whereby the bias signal 122 applied to the acceleration / deceleration electrodes generates a variable-energy ion beam 116, and the bias signal 124 applied to the bending electrodes generates angle control of the ion beam 104. For example, one or more bias signals 122, 124 further selectively alter a controller 140 (e.g., a control system including one or more control devices). For example, selective control of one or more bias signals 122, 124 is provided via the control of one or more power supplies 118, 120. The controller 140 is further operable to control other configurations of the system 100, such as the workpiece support 110 and other components of the beamline assembly 106, such as beam scanning mechanisms, focusing and guiding elements or other beam control components, as will be discussed further below.

[0047] In one example, a control and feedback signal 142 between the controller 140 and one or more power supplies 118, 120 selectively controls and modulates the energy of the ion beam 104 to define a variable-energy ion beam 116. For example, a bias signal 122 (e.g., a deceleration voltage) controlling the electrical bias supplied to the acceleration / deceleration electrodes 126 can selectively change (increase and decrease) the energy of the ion beam 104. Similarly, a bias signal 124 controlling the electrical bias supplied to one or more bending electrodes 130 can selectively bend the ion beam 104 upwards or downwards. For example, one or more bending electrodes 130 are configured to deflect the ion beam 104 in a predetermined manner based on the desired beam energy for filtering ions of external energy from the ion beam.

[0048] For example, the polarity of one or more bias signals 122, 124 can be switched when controlling the acceleration / deceleration and bending of the ion beam 104. For example, different energies can be achieved in the variable energy ion beam 116 when stepping through various bias signals 122 supplied to the acceleration / deceleration electrodes 128. Similarly, the bias signal 124 (e.g., bending voltage) applied to one or more bending electrodes 130 can be changed to maintain a constant angular relationship between the variable energy ion beam 116 and the workpiece 108 as the energy of the variable energy ion beam changes. Furthermore, the angular relationship between the variable energy ion beam 116 and the workpiece 108 can be changed by changing the energy of the variable energy ion beam via the bias signal 124.

[0049] For example, Figure 1B is a table 150 illustrating a plurality of energy steps 152 associated with a plurality of placement energies 154. Table 150 further illustrates the respective electrical bias signals 122, 124 supplied to the acceleration / deceleration electrode 128 and one or more bending electrodes 130 of Figure 1A, thereby further obtaining the accompanying angular offset 156. Thus, the system 100 of Figure 1A is configured to provide or induce a variable energy ion beam 116 with the various energies 154 and angular offsets 156 shown in Figure 1B while placing the workpiece 108 onto the workpiece support 110 positioned in the terminal station 112, wherein the workpiece is continuously exposed to the ion beam and is not removed from the chuck.

[0050] For example, Table 150 of Figure 1B can contain any number of energy steps E, such as E1, E2, E3...En, where various effects of the energy of the ions to be implanted can be achieved on the workpiece. For example, a large number of ion energy implantations of different energies or formulations can be efficiently and effectively provided as the workpiece 108 passes in front of the variable energy ion beam 116 several times to produce a mixed, substantially uniform, or so-called "box-shaped" dopant energy distribution 160 as illustrated in the example shown in Figure 1C. Thus, a unique profile or shape associated with a plurality of formulations can be achieved, as illustrated in Figure 1C, which depicts the ion concentration (e.g., dose) and ion depth (e.g., varying with energy), called the implantation profile, which can selectively change with each implantation step in the chain.

[0051] To achieve this purpose, the ion beam 104 of FIG1A can be controlled and synchronized to change the ion beam energy and / or beam angle by acceleration or deceleration of one or more acceleration / deceleration electrodes 128 and deflection at any angle by one or more bending electrodes 130, while maintaining the workpiece 108 in the terminal station 118, wherein the workpiece is presented in front of the variable energy ion beam 116 and is continuously exposed to the variable energy ion beam while the workpiece is held on the workpiece support 110.

[0052] The system and method of the present invention are therefore based on a series of ion implantation passes with multiple energy conditions provided on workpiece 108 using programmed recipes. In a specific example illustrated in FIG2, a plurality of programmed recipes (e.g., a plurality of energies, doses, etc.) can be provided before the start of an implantation cycle containing a plurality of implantation passes, so that the workpiece is not removed from the workpiece support (e.g., ESC) when changes are made between the plurality of programmed recipes. For example, any number i implantation cycles 40A, 40B…40i can be provided, thereby implanting any number j workpieces 26A, 26B…26j with any number k programmed recipes 32A, 32B…32k respectively. Thus, workpiece 26 is held on chuck 26 for each change of programmed recipe 32 (e.g., change of energy, dose, etc.) before the next workpiece to be implanted with, for example, the energy distribution 30 of FIG1C.

[0053] Furthermore, the present invention provides pre-tuning of an ion implantation system for multiple formulations prior to implantation. For example, before implantation begins, various components of the ion implantation system can be advantageously pre-tuned for all multiple formulations for a given workpiece, thereby allowing each of the multiple formulations to be selectively and sequentially implemented to generate ion beams with different characteristics (such as energy, angle, and / or dose for implantation into the workpiece) in a single and continuous implantation cycle consisting of a chain of implantation steps performed by ion beams of different characteristics. The present invention therefore further provides a procedure for ion implanting a single workpiece using a single tuned formulation at different energies with multiple sequential implantation steps, wherein the single tuned formulation includes or covers any or all of the multiple formulations.

[0054] The present invention therefore provides a productivity advantage over conventional ion implantation systems by eliminating workpiece exchange time and beam setup time and enabling implantation of multiple energies without having to retune the beam, block the beam implanted by the beam, or move the wafer into or out of the terminal station.

[0055] The present invention further provides all the energy of the beam across the entire scanned workpiece, thus uniformly doping the entire workpiece with any number of different energies. For example, each voltage controls a single downstream acceleration / deceleration apparatus (e.g., also called an acceleration / deceleration apparatus) and a bending apparatus (e.g., also called a bending apparatus) of the beam.

[0056] For example, the present invention is generally directed to a system, apparatus, and method for varying the energy of an ion beam delivered to a workpiece in an ion implantation system while maintaining the workpiece on a workpiece support and continuously exposing the workpiece to the ion beam as the energy of the workpiece changes. In a particular specific example, a system, apparatus, and method for varying the energy of an ion beam are disclosed in conjunction with a scanning pencil beam system architecture of the type developed, manufactured, and sold by Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (Beverly, MA). However, the present invention is also contemplated to be applicable to commonly known strip beam or pencil beam ion implantation system architectures as well known in the field of ion implantation and further described herein.

[0057] Therefore, this invention is applicable to and encompasses implementation in a variety of ion implanters. For example, this invention is applicable to three types of ion implanters: ion implanters in which a defined ribbon ion beam is delivered along a beamline, the longitudinal dimension of the ribbon ion beam being larger than the width of the workpiece irradiated by the ion beam; ion implanters using an ion beam with a relatively static cross-sectional dimension in which the workpiece moves relative to the ion beam in two dimensions; and ion implanters using a hybrid system in which the ion beam oscillates or scans relative to the workpiece along a first direction and moves the workpiece along a second direction transverse to the first direction. Similarly, this invention is equally applicable to ion implanters enabling high-current implantation capabilities, low-dose implantation capabilities, and high-energy implantation capabilities, including systems based on cascaded and / or RF linear accelerators.

[0058] This invention further incorporates, in its entirety, the contents of our jointly owned U.S. Patent Nos. 9,218,941 and 7,550,751.

[0059] The selective variable control of energy distribution in an ion implantation process, which has not been disclosed or covered to date, while maintaining the workpiece on a support or platen in a processing chamber and / or continuously exposing the workpiece to an ion beam, is not yet revealed or covered. Therefore, the present invention provides a system, apparatus, and method for altering the energy distribution of ions implanted across the workpiece by an ion beam while maintaining the workpiece on a platen in a processing chamber.

[0060] It should be understood that the foregoing applications are merely one of many procedures and applications implemented by the variable energy / depth ion implantation system and method of the present invention. The scope of the disclosure and the claims is not limited to the solution to this problem, nor is it limited to the method for providing variable depth implantation in convex, concave, or any other shape or contour of a workpiece. In addition to discontinuous variable implantation depth profiles, such variable, cross-workpiece non-uniform ion energy implantation methods of the present invention can also be implemented in any manner as needed to provide substantially continuous variable implantation depth profiles. For example, the present invention is contemplated for use in any desired application where the ion implantation depth (e.g., across the workpiece) needs to be selectively changed by selectively changing the ion implantation energy. There are several reasons why implantation may occur at different depths / energies across the surface of the workpiece, including but not limited to: changes in the threshold voltage across the workpiece; systematic changes in the energy profile of implantation across the scan width of the workpiece; and the ability to implant multiple grains with different electrical properties on a single wafer.

[0061] Therefore, to achieve the foregoing and related objectives, the present invention includes the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. Certain illustrative specific examples of the invention are described in detail below and accompanied by the accompanying drawings. However, these specific examples only indicate a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be used. Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention (when considered in conjunction with the drawings).

[0062] Therefore, the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals throughout may refer to the same elements. It should be understood that such descriptions are illustrative only and should not be interpreted in a limiting sense. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced with or without these specific details.

[0063] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary ion implantation system 200, as described herein, in which the energy of the ion beam can be selectively altered and / or controlled. System 200 includes a terminal unit 202, a beamline assembly 204, and a terminal station 206. Terminal unit 202 includes an ion source 208 powered by a high-voltage power supply 210, which generates an ion beam 212 and directs it to the beamline assembly 204. In this respect, ion source 208 generates charged ions extracted from the source via extraction assembly 214 and formed into the ion beam 212, which is then directed along a beam path in beamline assembly 204 to terminal station 206.

[0064] To generate ions, a dopant material (not shown) to be ionized is placed within the generation chamber 216 of the ion source 208. For example, the dopant material can be fed into the chamber 216 from a gas source (not shown). In one instance, in addition to the power supply 210, it should be understood that any number of suitable mechanisms (not shown) can be used to excite free electrons within the ion generation chamber 216, such as RF or microwave excitation sources, electron beam injection sources, electromagnetic sources, and / or cathodes that generate an arc discharge within the chamber. The excited electrons collide with dopant gas molecules, thereby generating ions. Generally, positive ions are generated, but herein, the invention is equally applicable to systems that generate negative ions.

[0065] Ions are controllably extracted via an ion extraction assembly 214 through a slit 218 in a chamber 216, the ion extraction assembly comprising a plurality of extraction and / or suppression electrodes 220. For example, the ion extraction assembly 214 may include individual extraction power supplies (not shown) to bias the extraction and / or suppression electrodes 220, thereby accelerating the ions extracted by the self-generating chamber 216. It is understood that because the ion beam 212 contains particles with the same charge, the ion beam may tend to expand radially outward, or beam "amplified," because particles with the same charge repel each other within the ion beam. It is also understood that this beam amplification phenomenon can be exacerbated in low-energy, high-current (e.g., high conductivity) beams, where many particles with the same charge move relatively slowly in the same direction, and where there is a large amount of repulsive force between particles, but very little particle momentum to keep the particles moving in the direction of the beam path.

[0066] Therefore, the extraction assembly 214 is generally configured to extract the ion beam 212 at high energy, so that the ion beam is not amplified (e.g., so that the particles have sufficient momentum to overcome the repulsive forces that could lead to beam amplification). Furthermore, it is generally advantageous to deliver the beam 212 at relatively high energy throughout the system, where this energy can be reduced as needed to promote beam containment only before the ions are implanted into the workpiece 222. Generating and transporting molecular or clustered ions that can be transported at relatively high energy but implanted at lower equivalent energy is also advantageous, as the energy of the molecules or clusters is distributed among the doping atoms of the molecules.

[0067] In the exemplary ion implantation system depicted in Figure 3, the beamline assembly 204 includes a beam guide 224, a mass analyzer 226, a scanning system 228, a parallelizer 230, and one or more acceleration or deceleration and / or filtering subsystems 232. The mass analyzer 226 is configured to have approximately a 90-degree angle and includes one or more magnets (not shown) for establishing a (dipole) magnetic field therein. As the ion beam 212 enters the mass analyzer 226, the ion beam is correspondingly bent by the magnetic field, such that desired ions are transported along the beam path while ions with inappropriate charge-to-mass ratios are repelled. More specifically, ions with excessively high or low charge-to-mass ratios are deflected insufficiently or minimally to be directed into the sidewall 234 of the mass analyzer 226, allowing ions with the desired charge-to-mass ratio in the beam 212 to pass through and exit via the analytical aperture 236.

[0068] Further description of scanning system 228, wherein, for example, the scanning system includes scanning element 238 and focusing and / or guiding element 240. Scanning system 228 may include various known scanning systems, such as those shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,980,562 to Berrian et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,091,655 to Dykstra et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,393,984 to Glanish, U.S. Patent No. 7,550,751 to Benveniste et al., and U.S. Patent No. 7,615,763 to Vanderberg et al., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0069] In the exemplary scanning system 228, individual power supplies 242, 244 are operatively coupled to the scanning element 238 and the focusing and guiding element 240, and more specifically, to the individual electrodes 238a, 238b and 240a, 240b located therein. The focusing and guiding element 240 receives a mass-analyzed ion beam 212 (e.g., a "pencil" or "dot" beam in the illustrated system 200) having a relatively narrow profile, wherein the voltage applied to plates 240a and 240b by the power supply 244 operates to focus and guide the ion beam to an optimal point on the scanning element 238, preferably the scanning vertex 246. The voltage waveform applied to the scanner plates 238a and 238b by the power supply 242 (e.g., power supply 244 can also act as power supply 242) then scans the beam 212 back and forth to expand the beam 212 outward into an elongated scanned or strip-shaped beam (e.g., scanned beam 212), which has a width or longitudinal dimension in the x-axis that is at least as wide as or wider than the workpiece of interest. It will be understood that the scan vertex 246 can be defined as a point in the optical path from which each small beam or scanned portion of the strip-shaped beam appears to emanate after being scanned by the scanning element 238.

[0070] It should be understood that the type of ion implantation system described herein can be used with different types of scanning systems. For example, electrostatic or magnetic systems can be used in this invention. A typical specific example of an electrostatic scanning system includes a power supply coupled to scanner plates or electrodes 238a and 238b, wherein scanner 238 provides a scanning beam. Scanner 238 receives a mass-analyzed ion beam with a relatively narrow profile (e.g., a "pencil-shaped" beam in the illustrated system), and operates by a voltage waveform applied to scanner plates 238a and 238b by power supply 242 to scan the beam back and forth in the X direction (scanning direction) to cause the beam to expand outward into an elongated band-shaped beam (e.g., a scanned beam), thereby having an effective X-direction width that is at least as wide as or wider than the workpiece of interest. Similarly, in a magnetic scanning system, a high current supply is connected to a coil of an electromagnet. The magnetic field is adjusted to scan the beam. For the purposes of this invention, all different types of scanning systems are contemplated, and the electrostatic system described herein is for illustrative purposes only.

[0071] The scanned beam 212 then passes through a parallelizer 230. Various parallelizer systems 230 are illustrated in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,091,655 and 5,177,366 to Dykstra et al., 6,744,377 to Inoue, 7,112,809 to Rathmell et al., and 7,507,978 to Vanderberg et al., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. As the name suggests, the parallelizer 230 deflects the incoming scanned pencil beam, which has scattering rays or a fine beam, into a parallel ray or fine beam 212a, so that the placement parameters (e.g., placement angle) are uniform across the workpiece 222. In the specific example described herein, the parallelizer 230 includes two dipole magnets 230a and 230b, wherein the dipoles are substantially trapezoidal and mirror-image of each other in orientation, thereby causing the beam 212 to bend into a substantially "S" shape. In a preferred embodiment, the dipoles have equal angles and opposite bending directions.

[0072] The primary purpose of the dipole is to convert the plurality of scattered rays or fine beams originating from the scanning vertex 246 into a plurality of substantially parallel rays or fine beams in the form of relatively thin, elongated band-shaped beams. As explained herein, the use of two symmetrical dipoles produces symmetry across the band-shaped beam with respect to the path length of the fine beams, as well as first-order and higher-order focusing properties. Furthermore, similar to the operation of the mass analyzer 226, an S-shaped bend is used to filter and decontaminate the ion beam 212. Specifically, the trajectories of neutral particles and / or other contaminants (e.g., environmental particles) entering the ion beam 212 downstream of the mass analyzer 226 are generally unaffected by the dipole (or minimally affected), allowing these particles to continue along the original beam path. Thus, a relatively large number of these neutral particles are not bent or are bent very little, and therefore do not affect the workpiece 222 (e.g., the workpiece is positioned to receive the bent ion beam 212). It is understood that the removal of such contaminants from the ion beam 212 is important because these contaminants may possess incorrect charges and / or energies. Generally, such contaminants will be unaffected (or much less affected) by the deceleration and / or other stages in system 200. Therefore, they can have a significant (although undesirable and generally unacceptable) effect on the workpiece 222 in terms of dosage, energy, and angular uniformity. This, in turn, can result in unintended and undesirable device performance.

[0073] Downstream of the parallelization component 230, one or more deceleration stages 232 are provided. Examples of deceleration and / or acceleration systems are shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,091,655 to Dykstra et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,441,382 to Huang, and U.S. Patent No. 8,124,946 to Farley et al., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. As previously indicated, up to this point in system 200, the beam 212 is typically delivered at a relatively high energy level to mitigate the tendency for beam amplification, which can be particularly high when the beam density is increased, for example, at the analytical aperture 236. Similar to the ion extraction assembly 214, the scanning element 238, and the focusing and guiding element 240, the deceleration stage 232 includes one or more electrodes 232a, 232b operable to decelerate the beam 212.

[0074] It will be understood that although two electrodes 220a and 220b, 238a and 238b, 240a and 240b, and 232a and 232b are described respectively in the exemplary ion extraction assembly 214, scanning element 238, focusing and guiding element 240, and deceleration stage 232, these elements 214, 238, 240, and 232 may include any suitable number of electrodes configured and biased to accelerate and / or decelerate ions and to focus, bend, deflect, converge, diverge, scan, parallelize, and / or decontaminate the ion beam 212, such as those provided in U.S. Patent No. 6,777,696 to Rathmell et al., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Additionally, the focusing and / or guiding element 240 may include electrostatic deflection plates (e.g., one or more pairs of electrostatic deflection plates) and single lenses, quadrupole lenses, and / or other focusing elements for focusing the ion beam. Although unnecessary, it is advantageous to apply voltage to the deflection plates within the guiding and focusing elements 240 so that the average value of these deflection plates is zero. This avoids the need to introduce an additional single lens to mitigate distortion in the focusing state of element 240. It should be understood that when the beam direction is proportional to the guiding voltage and length of the plates and inversely proportional to the beam energy, the "guiding" of the ion beam 212 varies, in particular, with the size of the plates 240a and 240b and the guiding voltage applied to them.

[0075] It should also be understood that although electrodes of the ion extraction assembly 214, scanning element 238, focusing and guiding element 240, and / or other optical elements (not shown) that can be incorporated along the beam path can be used to accelerate or decelerate the ion beam and provide selectively variable ion beam energy according to the invention, using such upstream assemblies and / or elements to change the ion beam energy typically induces adjustments and retuning of other downstream components, resulting in the problems discussed herein regarding the previous suppression of efficient and effective link-energy ion implantation in a production environment. However, using only the downstream deceleration (or acceleration) stage 232, as depicted in the illustrative beamline illustrated in FIG3, advantageously allows for the avoidance of such problematic adjustments and retuning of other downstream components, enabling efficient and effective link-energy ion implantation to be practiced and implemented in a production environment.

[0076] Linked energy ion implantation can be implemented most advantageously, wherein: (1) the ion implantation system architecture includes a single wafer terminal architecture, such that a single wafer can be maintained on the wafer support through selective changes in ion beam energy; (2) the system also has hardware for enabling high-temperature or low-temperature implantation, such that the temperature of the wafer can be maintained at a substantially constant rising or falling temperature through the variable energy ion implantation process; and / or (3) the wafer is continuously exposed to the selective variable energy ion beam without requiring the wafer to be removed from the beam path or the beam to be blocked so as not to impact the wafer when adjusting and retuning downstream components to deliver the variable energy ion beam sequentially to the wafer.

[0077] Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary acceleration / deceleration stage 232 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, more specifically as an electrode post 250, which includes a first electrode 254 and a second electrode 254, and a pair of intermediate electrode plates 256 and 258. The first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254 are substantially parallel to each other and define a first aperture 260 and a second aperture 262, respectively. A gap 264 is defined between apertures 260 and 262, and electrodes 252 and 254 are configured such that an axis 266 substantially orthogonal to the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254 passes through the gap 264 and through the first aperture 260 and the second aperture 262. The intermediate electrode plates include an upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and a lower intermediate gap electrode 258. A first upper sub-gap region 268 is defined between the first electrode 252 and the upper intermediate gap electrode 256. A first lower sub-gap region 270 is defined between the first electrode 252 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258. Similarly, a second upper sub-gap region 272 is defined between the second electrode 254 and the upper intermediate gap electrode 256, and a second lower sub-gap region 274 is defined between the second electrode 254 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258. An ion beam 276 passes through the gap 264 and, for example, is deflected about 12 degrees from the axis 266, and is focused at a point 278 downstream of the gap 264. The invention is further incorporated herein by reference in its entirety from U.S. Patent No. 9,218,941, jointly owned by Jen et al.

[0078] In the illustrated example, a specific bias voltage is depicted to facilitate the operation of the electrode post 250 constituting the illustrative acceleration / deceleration 232. However, it should be understood that for the purposes of this invention, any suitable bias voltage can be applied between the electrodes to achieve the desired result (e.g., the degree of acceleration, deceleration, and / or deflection). In fact, in the context of this invention, where variable ion beam energy is the desired result, it should be understood that changes in the bias voltage signal applied to these electrodes will exist, regardless of whether this involves changes in the voltage applied to the electrodes or the current passing through them. However, the bias voltage value in Figure 4 effectively indicates the deceleration of the ion beam 276.

[0079] An ion beam 276, and more specifically, the positive ions contained therein, enters a gap 264 through a first aperture 260 at an initial energy level (e.g., 6 keV in the illustrated example). To accelerate or decelerate the ions in the beam, the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254 are biased in different ways, creating a potential difference between them, and the ions experience a corresponding increase or decrease in energy as they pass through the gap 264 between the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254. For example, in the example shown in FIG4, the positive ions of the ion beam experience a 4 keV energy drop as they travel from the first electrode 252, which has a negative 4 kV bias, to the second electrode 254, which has a zero potential (e.g., coupled to ground). Therefore, when the ions pass through the gap 264 and experience a 4 keV energy drop, the original ion beam energy of positive 6 keV decreases to 2 keV. The ion beam 276 will therefore have a specific energy level (e.g., 2 KeV in the illustrated example) after it leaves the gap 264 and enters the neutral region 280 downstream of the gap 264.

[0080] It should be understood that this is true regardless of the path that ions may take through gap 264. For example, in the illustrated example, ions entering the lower sub-gap 270 between the first electrode 252 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 will be accelerated at a rate greater than that of ions entering the upper sub-gap 268 between the first electrode 252 and the upper intermediate gap electrode 256. This is because the potential difference between the first electrode 252 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 is greater than the potential difference between the first electrode 252 and the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 (e.g., -2.5 kV (-4 kV minus -6.5 kV)) for the lower sub-gap 270, and -0.5 kV (-4 kV minus -4.5 kV) for the upper sub-gap 268.

[0081] However, this difference in acceleration is offset by the corresponding potential difference between the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 and the second electrode 254. For example, in the illustrated example, the second electrode 254 is biased to zero (e.g., coupled to ground). Therefore, ions from the first lower sub-gap 270 are decelerated more significantly than ions from the first upper sub-gap 268. This compensates for the difference in acceleration of ions as they enter the gap, so that when the ions leave the gap, they all have substantially the same energy (e.g., 2 keV). Ions from the first lower sub-gap 270 will be decelerated more significantly because they will have to cross a negative 6.5 kV (e.g., the negative 6.5 kV bias of the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 minus the zero V bias of the second electrode 254) when crossing the second lower sub-gap 274. In contrast, ions from the first upper sub-gap 268 will be slowed down to a lesser extent because they will only need to cross a negative 4.5 kV when crossing the second upper sub-gap 272 (e.g., the negative 4.5 kV bias of the upper intermediate gap electrode 614 minus the zero V bias of the second electrode 254). Therefore, regardless of the different paths taken by the ions and the energy levels through which the ions pass, all ions are essentially affected by the gaps at substantially the same energy level (e.g., 2 keV).

[0082] It should be understood that the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 serve the dual purpose of drawing the ion beam into the gap 264 to accelerate or decelerate the ion beam and to provide beam deflection or bending for beam filtering purposes. For example, the intermediate gap plates 256 and 258 are typically biased differently relative to each other, thereby generating an electrostatic field therebetween to bend or deflect the beam upwards or downwards, or to vary in magnitude depending on the magnitude of the bias voltage of the electrodes and the energy relative to the ion beam. In a characteristic example, the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 are biased to -4.5 kV and -6.5 kV, respectively. Assuming the beam contains positively charged ions, this potential difference forces the positively charged ions passing through the gap 264 downwards toward the negatively charged lower intermediate gap electrode 258, ultimately causing the beam 276 to bend or deflect downwards (e.g., by approximately 12 degrees). Bending or deflecting ions in this manner has the following effects: filtering neutral particles from the beam that are unaffected by the electric field through which the ion beam passes; and filtering ions that may not be at substantially the same energy level as the ions to be implanted.

[0083] It should be understood that in order to maintain this exemplary 12-degree deflection of the beam given the energy change, the bias voltage applied to the intermediate gap electrodes 256 and 258 must also be changed accordingly. For example, acceleration of the ion beam can be induced by biasing electrodes 282 and 284 to -4 kV while simultaneously biasing electrodes 252 and 254 to +40 kV, but any bias voltage value is acceptable. This bias configuration creates a negative potential barrier extending into the intermediate region. It should be understood that with these bias voltages applied, the operation of the device is substantially similar to that described, except that the beam 276 is accelerated rather than decelerated. These exemplary values ​​are used to increase the energy level of the beam from, for example, 80 keV to 120 keV, thereby accelerating the beam by a factor of 1.5, wherein the positive ions in the beam 276 will be accelerated as the ions traverse the second upper sub-gap region 272 and the second lower sub-gap region 274.

[0084] It should be understood that the configuration, arrangement, and / or shaping of the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 can be customized to facilitate control over the lensing, focusing, deflection, and / or acceleration / deceleration effects of the beam. As an example, in the illustration depicted in Figure 4, the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 has a width slightly reduced relative to the upper intermediate gap electrode 256, and also has a slightly angled corner 282. These adjustments substantially counteract the enhanced lensing effect experienced by ions approaching the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 as they undergo stronger acceleration and / or deceleration due to the difference in applied bias voltage. However, it should be understood that, for the purposes of this invention, these electrodes 256, 258 can have any suitable configuration, including the same shape. It should be further understood that, since the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258, which are primarily responsible for beam bending, operate substantially independently of the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254, which are primarily responsible for accelerating / decelerating the beam 276, the beam may or may not be bent or deflected in acceleration, deceleration, and / or offset (e.g., zero acceleration / deceleration) modes. For example, the upper intermediate gap electrode and the lower intermediate gap electrode can be biased to the same voltage, so that acceleration or deceleration can be induced without bending the ion beam 276.

[0085] The overall net effect of all potential differences is the focusing, deceleration (or acceleration), and selective deflection of ions in beam 276. The deflection of the ion beam provides the energy for decontamination because neutral particles in the beam continue along the original beam path parallel to axis 266, unaffected by electrode effects. For example, contaminants may then encounter certain types of barriers or absorption structures (not shown) that halt their forward progress and leave any workpiece unaffected by the contaminants. In contrast, the trajectory of the deflected ion beam 276 allows the beam to appropriately encounter and dope selected regions of the workpiece (not shown).

[0086] It should be understood that the electrode configuration (e.g., the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258 between the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254) is also used to mitigate beam amplification, as this configuration minimizes the distance the beam 276 must travel before encountering the wafer. Instead of cascading these bending and focusing stages, the terminal station can be positioned closer to the accelerator / decelerator stage of the ion implantation system by accelerating, decelerating, or deflecting the beam 276 (e.g., via the upper intermediate gap electrode 256 and the lower intermediate gap electrode 258) while simultaneously focusing the beam (e.g., via the first electrode 252 and the second electrode 254).

[0087] In the illustrated example, a specific electrical bias voltage is applied to the electrodes and is depicted to facilitate a better understanding of the operation of the deceleration stage 232 of FIG3. However, it should be understood that, for the purposes of this invention, any suitable bias voltage can be applied between the electrodes to achieve the desired result, such as the degree of acceleration, deceleration, and / or deflection (if present). Additionally, for the purposes of this invention, magnets and the current flowing through them can be used to achieve these desired results. Furthermore, the specific bias voltage is applied in a selectively variable and controlled manner to achieve the selective and variable energy control of this invention. However, the bias voltage values ​​illustrated in FIG4 effectively indicate the deceleration of the ion beam 276.

[0088] It should be noted that the selective change of bias voltage can be further based on one or more predetermined characteristics and feature definitions of workpiece 222, such as those in FIG3, provided by one of the operators, and can be iterative. For example, a "chaining" can be performed, in which a discrete number of implants with variable doses or energies (e.g., a plurality of sequential implants constituting a "chain") are provided to workpiece 222 in a predetermined sequence or in a randomized manner. For example, the predetermined sequence of chaining can start at a low energy and proceed sequentially through a set of predetermined energies from low to high energy in a specific order. In another example, the predetermined sequence of chaining can start at a high energy and proceed sequentially through a set of predetermined energies from high to low energy in a specific order. In yet another example, chaining can start at any given energy and proceed sequentially through a set of predetermined energies in any specified or randomized order. For example, each "chain" can be predetermined via a metric mapping of workpiece 222 before implantation. Furthermore, each step of the chain can be programmed into the control system of the ion implanter as a series of sequential steps, and then the implantation chain can be started.

[0089] Therefore, the overall effect is defined by the controlled variable doping depth profile across workpiece 222, which may be uniform or non-uniform, thus defining the energy for patterned implantation. For example, chains of different energies can be executed iteratively, where the dose and doping depth profile across the workpiece provided at each step of the chain produces a substantially uniform implantation profile. Alternatively, surface topography feedback can be used to selectively change the implantation energy and / or selectively change the bias voltage between sequential implantations constituting the chain.

[0090] It should be understood that different types of terminal stations 206 can be used in the implanter system 200. For example, a "batch" type terminal station can simultaneously support multiple workpieces 222 on a rotating support structure, wherein these workpieces 222 rotate through the path of the ion beam until all workpieces are fully implanted. On the other hand, a "tandem" type terminal station supports a single workpiece 222 along the beam path for implantation, wherein multiple workpieces 222 are implanted one at a time in a continuous manner, wherein each workpiece 222 is fully implanted before the implantation of the next workpiece 222 begins. In a hybrid system, the workpiece 222 can be mechanically translated in a first (Y or slow scan) direction while simultaneously electrically or magnetically scanning the beam in a second (X or fast scan) direction to impart the beam 212 over the entire workpiece 222, as disclosed, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Patent 9,443,698, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In contrast, in a so-called two-dimensional mechanical scanning architecture known in the art and exemplified by the Optima HD™ ion implantation system manufactured and sold by Axcelis Technologies (Beverly, MA), the workpiece 222 can be mechanically translated in front of the ion beam at a fixed position in a first (slow) scanning direction, while simultaneously scanning the workpiece in a second substantially orthogonal (fast) scanning direction to impart the beam 212 over the entire workpiece 222. Alternatively, in a so-called strip beam system, the ion beam can be delivered along the beamline in such a way that the longitudinal dimension of the beam is larger than the workpiece, so that the workpiece is scanned only in a direction transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the beam to implant ions across the entire surface of the workpiece.

[0091] Terminal station 206, in the illustrated example, is a "continuous" type terminal station that supports a single workpiece 222 along the deployed beam path. A dosimetry system 286 may be further included in terminal station 206 near the workpiece location for calibration measurements prior to deployment. During calibration, beam 212 passes through dosimetry system 286. Dosimetry system 286 includes one or more plotters 288 that continuously traverse plotter path 290 to measure the profile of the scanned beam. Plotters 288 may include, for example, current density sensors, such as Faraday cups, that measure the current density of the scanned beam, where the current density varies with the deployment angle (e.g., the relative orientation between the beam and the mechanical surface of the workpiece and / or the relative orientation between the beam and the lattice structure of the workpiece). The current density sensors move in a generally orthogonal manner relative to the scanned beam and thus typically traverse the width of a strip of beam. In one example, the dosimetry system measures both the beam density distribution and the angular distribution. Beam angle measurement can be performed using a moving plotter that senses current behind a shield with a slot, as described in the literature. After a short drift, the displacement of each individual fine beam from the slot position can be used to calculate the fine beam angle. It should be understood that this displacement can be referred to as a calibrated reference for beam diagnostics in the system.

[0092] The dosimetry system 286 is operatively coupled to the control system 292 to receive command signals from and provide measurement values ​​to it. For example, the control system 292, which may include a computer, microprocessor, etc., is operable to acquire measurement values ​​from the dosimetry system 286 and calculate the average angular distribution of the scanned strip beam across the workpiece. The control system 292 is also operatively coupled to the terminal unit 202 (from which the ion beam is generated) and the mass analyzer 226, scanning element 238 (e.g., via power supply 242), focusing and guiding element 240 (e.g., via power supply 244), parallelizer 230, and acceleration / deceleration stage 232 of the beamline assembly 204. Therefore, any of these components can be adjusted by the control system 292 to facilitate desired ion implantation parameters based on values ​​provided by the dosimetry system 286 or any other ion beam measurement or monitoring device. Control signals can also be generated via lookup tables stored in memory modules, typically based on empirical data collected through experiments.

[0093] As an example, an ion beam can first be established according to predetermined beam tuning parameters (e.g., stored / loaded into control system 292). Then, based on feedback from dosimetry system 286, scanner 238 can be adjusted to change the scanning speed of the scanned beam, thereby altering the ion dose on the workpiece. Similarly, acceleration / deceleration stage 232 and / or ion extraction assembly can be adjusted to change the beam energy level, thereby adjusting the junction depth by adjusting, for example, the bias voltage applied to the electrodes in ion extraction assembly 214 and / or deceleration stage 232. Correspondingly, for example, the strength and orientation of the magnetic or electric field generated in the scanner can be adjusted, for example, by adjusting the electrical bias voltage signal applied to the scanning electrodes. The placement angle can be further controlled by adjusting the voltage applied to, for example, guide element 240 or acceleration / deceleration stage 232.

[0094] According to one embodiment of the invention, a control system 292 is provided, configured to establish a predetermined scanning pattern on a workpiece 222, wherein the workpiece is exposed to a point ion or pencil beam by means of a scanning system 228. For example, the control system 292 is configured to control various properties of the ion beam, such as the beam density and current, and other properties associated with the ion beam, specifically its energy. Additionally, the controller 292 is configured to control the scanning speed of the workpiece positioned on a workpiece support 294. Although not shown in the figures, the workpiece support 294 is operatively coupled to, for example, a translation mechanism (e.g., a robotic device or other equipment), configured to translate the workpiece 222 residing on the workpiece support through the ion beam 212.

[0095] Furthermore, in the context of this invention for providing a continuously controlled variable-energy ion beam in the ion implantation system 200, the control system 292 is configured to modify and adjust the electrical bias signals 295 applied to various subsystems. For example, the control system 292 is configured to control the electrical bias signals 295 supplied from one or more variable power sources 296 to the deceleration / acceleration stage 232, thereby applying the energy of the ion beam 212 in the ion implantation system to the various electrodes described herein.

[0096] Regarding the exemplary ion implantation system 200 described herein, the control system 292 can be configured to modify and change the scanning voltage applied to the scanner 228, and can be further configured to modify and change the bias voltage applied to the acceleration / deceleration stage 232 in sync with the scanning voltage, thereby correspondingly adjusting the energy and / or deflection of the ion beam. For example, such modifications to the scanning voltage and bias voltage can be implemented in discrete steps or in a continuous (e.g., non-discrete) manner without removing the workpiece from the pressure plate, chuck, clamp, or ESC or processing environment, thus providing various advantages over known systems and methods.

[0097] As previously discussed, the present invention can be advantageously applied to high-temperature or low-temperature ion implantation processes and systems. For example, in a high-temperature ion implantation system, terminal station 416 may include equipment for transferring workpieces between an atmospheric environment and a high-temperature vacuum environment. A load-locking assembly (not shown) may be provided, wherein the load-locking assembly may include a chamber and a second chamber having associated preheating equipment, wherein the preheating equipment is configured to heat a workpiece placed in the chamber to a first temperature. This first temperature may be the desired final processing temperature of the workpiece.

[0098] Alternatively or additionally, terminal station 206 may include a thermal device 297, such as a heated platen or clamp, on which workpiece 222 resides during its placement. For example, thermal device 297 may be configured to heat or cool workpiece 222 to a second temperature, which may be the desired processing temperature during ion placement. For example, workpiece support 294 may include a heated clamp 298, for example, wherein heated clamp 298 is further configured to selectively hold the workpiece thereon within the terminal station or processing chamber / processing chamber environment. For example, heated clamp 298 may be configured to heat workpiece 222 to a predetermined high temperature, wherein the heated clamp holds the workpiece thereon while the ion beam 212 impinges on the workpiece. For example, the heated clamp may include a heated electrostatic clamp. Alternatively, heated clamp 298 may be configured to cool workpiece 222 during ion placement.

[0099] According to one exemplary embodiment of the invention, a thermal chuck 298 is configured to heat a workpiece 222 placed thereon to a temperature of approximately 300°C to 700°C, which may be equal to, lower than, or higher than the desired processing temperature. In one example, the desired processing temperature may generally be in the range of approximately 400°C to 600°C.

[0100] According to another embodiment, terminal station 206 may include a post-installation cooling device configured to cool the workpiece to a further temperature when it is placed on it. According to one example, the post-installation cooling device may include a cold plate configured to support the workpiece within a second chamber for cooling the workpiece to a lower temperature before introducing the wafer into the atmosphere.

[0101] Therefore, in the high-temperature ion implantation system, the controller 292 can be provided and configured to heat the workpiece 222 to a first temperature in the atmospheric environment via a preheating device, and then heat the workpiece to a second higher temperature via a hot clamp for heated ion implantation in a high vacuum environment. The controller 292 can be configured to implant ions into the workpiece 222 via an ion implantation device, and cool the workpiece to a third temperature via a post-implantation cooling device. For example, the controller 292 can be further configured to selectively transfer the workpiece 222 between an atmospheric environment and a vacuum processing environment.

[0102] Alternatively, an ion implantation system is provided for implanting ions into a cold workpiece. For example, the ion implantation system includes an ion implantation device configured to provide an ion beam to a workpiece positioned within a processing chamber. In one example, a chuck at below ambient temperature (such as a cryogenic electrostatic chuck) is configured to support the workpiece within the processing chamber during exposure to the ion beam. The cryogenic chuck is further configured to cool the workpiece to the processing temperature. According to one embodiment, a load-locking chamber may be provided, wherein the load-locking chamber is operatively coupled to the processing chamber and configured to isolate the processing environment from the external environment. The load-locking chamber further includes a workpiece support configured to support the workpiece during transfer between the processing chamber and an intermediate chamber. A pre-cooling station may be further positioned within the processing chamber or load-locking chamber, wherein the pre-cooling station includes a chilled workpiece support configured to cool the workpiece to a first temperature. In one example, the first temperature is significantly lower than the processing temperature. For example, the precooling station may include a cooling plate configured to support the workpiece and cool the workpiece to the first temperature.

[0103] In such cryogenic ion implantation systems, a post-implantation heating station may also be provided, located within a processing chamber or load-locking chamber. This post-implantation heating station includes a heated workpiece support configured to heat the workpiece to a second temperature. For example, the post-implantation heating station includes a heating station support comprising a heating plate configured to support the workpiece and heat it to the second temperature before reintroducing the wafer to the atmosphere.

[0104] The controller can be further configured to determine the first and second temperatures at least in part based on the amount of data to be processed in the program. For example, a temperature monitoring system can be configured to measure the temperature of the workpiece at the pre-installed cooling station and the post-installed heating station, as well as the temperature of the workpiece on the pressure plate. The controller can then be further configured to control the cooling and subsequent heating of the workpiece at least in part based on the measured temperature of the workpiece.

[0105] It should be understood that various high-temperature and low-temperature ion implantation systems, as well as methods for heating or cooling ion implantation, have been described in patent literature and otherwise. The present invention can be implemented in any such ion implantation system to provide energy chain implantation while maintaining the workpiece on a workpiece support in the terminal station during adjustment of the ion beam energy.

[0106] It should also be understood that the present invention can be combined with features known in this art to provide even greater variability in the ion implantation process during ion implantation. For example, as previously indicated, the prior art disclosure pertains to features providing variable dose control for implantation. Features of the present invention for providing selective variable energy control of the implantation process can be combined with features for providing selective variable dose control of the ion implantation process to achieve selective variable energy and dose ion implantation on the surface of the wafer.

[0107] According to the present invention, the system described herein implements a method for implanting ions at varying depths, as illustrated in flowchart form in FIG5. It should be noted that although illustrative methods are described and depicted herein as a series of actions or events, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the described order of such actions or events, as according to the present invention, some steps may occur in a different order and / or simultaneously with other steps besides those shown and described herein. Furthermore, not all described steps may be required to implement the method according to the present invention. Moreover, it should be understood that these methods can be implemented in conjunction with the systems described herein as well as with other systems not described herein.

[0108] Method 300 in Figure 5 begins at action 302 with providing a workpiece on a support. In action 304, an ion beam, such as a point ion beam, is provided, and in action 306, the ion beam can be mass-analyzed to define an ion beam with a predetermined charge-to-mass ratio. In action 308, one or more of the workpiece and the ion beam are scanned relative to each other. For example, in action 308, the workpiece is mechanically scanned in two orthogonal directions. In another alternative, the ion beam is electrostatically or magnetically scanned in a first direction and mechanically scanned in a second direction. In action 310, the energy of the ion beam is selectively changed from a first energy to a second energy, and then the scan of action 308 is performed again until all energy is implanted. Therefore, the resulting implantation depth of ions into the workpiece can be made uniform along the surface of the workpiece.

[0109] Therefore, this invention relates to an ion implantation system and method for sequentially changing the energy of an ion beam during workpiece implantation. This invention achieves this by changing the electrical bias voltage supplied to the accelerating / decelerating electrodes, allowing the energy of the ions delivered to the workpiece to be selectively altered to achieve a predetermined variable energy pattern at the workpiece. It should be understood that this invention can be incorporated into systems providing variable energy implantation in the form of discrete variable energy levels, step function changes in energy, or other forms. The change in the energy profile across the workpiece surface can be symmetrical and can also occur in quadrants or otherwise, such as specifying the X1 energy at location Q1, the X2 energy at location Q2, etc. Furthermore, a single workpiece can be implanted with multiple energies via the ion beam in multiple passes.

[0110] For illustrative purposes, the exemplary ion implantation system architecture described herein is particularly well-suited for selectively varying the ion beam energy across the surface of a workpiece, wherein the system 200 of Figure 3 incorporates a scanning spot beam that scans across the workpiece surface electronically or magnetically. This scanning of the spot beam allows for selective modulation of the ion beam energy during scanning. Thus, as the scanning beam strikes a selected location on the wafer, the beam passes through all the optics of the beamline, whereby the beam can be modified to change its energy to a selected energy immediately before striking the wafer. The change in beam energy can be synchronized with the x and y scanning functions of the scanner and / or terminal station, such that the energy of the scanned beam can be varied according to x and / or y.

[0111] Advantageously, in the exemplary ion implantation system described herein, the final beam energy can be varied by the electrical bias supplied to a single downstream component, the deceleration / acceleration stage 232, thereby eliminating the laborious and complex tuning requirements typically required when modifying the electrical bias supplied to an upstream component that can alter the ion energy, such as tuning the extraction electrode 214 located immediately downstream of the ion source 208. Furthermore, the bias voltage applied to the deceleration / acceleration and deflection energy filters can be selectively varied according to the x and y positions of the scanned beam, allowing the beam to be confined to travel along the same path to the wafer independently of changes in ion beam energy.

[0112] It should be understood that all selective biases of components and subsystems can be implemented via control system 454, and via feedback loop input to the acceleration / deceleration stage and the energy filter based on the position of the beam output from the self-scanning system. However, it should be understood that the feedback loop is not required to achieve the selective variable energy ion implantation feature of this invention, as a pre-programmed ion beam energy profile can also be advantageously implemented to perform the selective variable energy ion implantation of this invention. Thus, the ion beam energy can be selectively changed for each die or other feature or region via feedback loops at the x, y coordinate positions of the beam on the wafer or via a predetermined desired pattern.

[0113] The selective variable energy ion implantation of the present invention can also be implemented via a workpiece pattern, wherein the selective change of one or more voltages supplied to one or more electrodes in the electrode posts and / or energy filters is based on the workpiece pattern positioned on the workpiece support. In another alternative, the ion implantation system of the present invention may include detectors, or multiple detectors configured to detect one or more attributes of the workpiece located on the workpiece support, wherein the selective change of one or more voltages supplied to one or more electrode posts in the acceleration / deceleration stages and / or energy filters is further based on feedback from the detectors. According to this alternative embodiment, the detectors may preferably be configured to detect one or more of the following: workpiece thickness, thickness of layers disposed on the workpiece, grain pattern on the workpiece, edge of the workpiece, center of the workpiece, or predefined area on the workpiece, wherein the detected information is provided as input to selectively change the energy of the ion beam.

[0114] Although the invention has been described with respect to one or more embodiments, it should be understood that changes and / or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the aforementioned components or structures (blocks, units, engines, assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), unless otherwise indicated, the terminology used to describe such components (including references to "component") is intended to correspond to any component or structure that performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., functionally equivalent), even if the disclosed structure is not structurally equivalent to the function performed in the exemplary embodiments of the invention described herein. Furthermore, although specific features may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, such features may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments when desired and advantageous for any given or specific application. Furthermore, in terms of the extent to which the terms "including / includes," "having / has / with," or variations thereof are used in the implementation methods or the scope of the patent application, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising."

[0115] 26A: Workpiece 26B: Workpiece 26j: workpiece 32A: Program Recipe 32B: Program Recipe 32C: Program Recipe 32D: Program Recipe 32k: Program Recipe 40A: Planting Cycle 40B: Planting Cycle 40i: Planting Cycle 100: System 102: Ion source 104: Ion beam 106: Beamline Assembly 108: Workpiece 110: Workpiece support component 112: Terminal Station 114: Acceleration / Deceleration Level 116: Variable Energy Ion Beam 118: Variable Power Supply 120: Variable power supply 122: Electrical bias signal 124: Electrical bias signal 126: Electrode 128: Acceleration / Deceleration Electrode 130: Bending electrode 140: Controller 150: Table 152: Energy Step 154: Planting Energy 156: Angle offset 200: Ion Implantation System 202: Terminal 204: Beamline Assembly 206: Terminal Station 208: Ion Source 210: High-voltage power supply 212: Ion beam 212a: Fine beam 214: Ion Extraction Assembly 216: Creating a chamber 218: Slit 220: Extraction and / or inhibition electrode 222: Workpiece 224: Beam Guide 226: Quality Analyzer 228: Scanning System 230:Parallelizer 230a: Dipole magnet 230b: Dipole magnet 232: Acceleration or deceleration and / or filtration subsystem 232a: Electrode 232b: Electrode 234: Sidewall 236: Analysis of Porosity 238: Scanning element 238a: Electrode / Scanner Plate 238b: Electrode / Scanner Board 240: Focusing and / or guiding elements 240a: Electrode / plate 240b: Electrode / plate 242: Power Supply 244: Power Supply 246: Scan Vertex 250: Electrode Post 252: First electrode 254: Second electrode 256: Intermediate electrode plate / Upper intermediate gap electrode 258: Intermediate electrode plate / Lower intermediate gap electrode 260: First pore 262: Second pore 264: Gap 266: Axis 268: First upper sub-gap region 270: First lower sub-gap region 272: Second upper sub-gap region 274: Second lower sub-gap region 276: Ion Beam 278: points 280: Neutral Zone 282: Electrode / Corner 284: Electrode 286: Dosing Measurement System 288: Surveying Instrument 290: Mapper Path 292: Control System / Controller 294: Workpiece support component 295: Electrical bias signal 296: Variable power supply 297: Thermal Equipment 298: Hot Clamping Plate 300: Method 302: Action 304: Action 306: Action 308: Action 310: Action

Claims

1. An ion implantation system for generating a link energy implantation of ions, the ion implantation system comprising: an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam; an acceleration / deceleration stage configured to receive the ion beam, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change an energy of the ion beam based on one or more inputs thereto, thereby defining a plurality of discrete energies of the ion beam; a single-workpiece terminal station located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, wherein the single-workpiece terminal station includes a workpiece support configured to selectively expose only a single workpiece to the ion beam; and a controller configured to sequentially and uniformly expose the entire single workpiece to each of the plurality of discrete energies of the ion beam while maintaining it on the workpiece support within the single-workpiece terminal station during the selective change of the energy of the ion beam.

2. The ion implantation system of claim 1, further comprising one or more power supplies operatively coupled to one or more of the acceleration / deceleration stages, wherein one or more inputs comprise one or more electrical bias signals.

3. The ion implantation system of claim 2, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage includes an electrode post having one or more electrode pairs, and wherein the one or more bias signals are supplied to the one or more electrode pairs of the electrode post.

4. The ion implantation system of claim 3, wherein the electrode post includes one or more of an ion beam accelerator, an ion beam decelerator, and a curved electrode.

5. The ion implantation system of claim 2, wherein the one or more bias signals include one or more of a voltage and a current.

6. The ion implantation system of claim 2, wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the one or more power supplies and configured to selectively change the one or more electrical bias signals supplied to the acceleration / deceleration stage according to a plurality of programmed recipes.

7. The ion implantation system of claim 1, further comprising a thermal device configured to control the temperature of one of the single workpieces on a predetermined processing temperature on the workpiece support, wherein the predetermined processing temperature is associated with one of a high-temperature configuration and a low-temperature configuration of the ion implantation system.

8. The ion implantation system of claim 1, further comprising a scanning device configured to scan one or more of the ion beam and the workpiece support relative to each other along a first scanning axis and a second scanning axis.

9. An ion implantation system configured to provide a selectively variable energy ion beam to a workpiece, the ion implantation system comprising: an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam; an acceleration / deceleration stage configured to receive the ion beam, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change an energy of the ion beam based on one or more inputs to the acceleration / deceleration stage, thereby defining a plurality of discrete energies of the selectively variable energy ion beam; and a terminal station located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, wherein the terminal station includes a workpiece support configured to selectively position the workpiece in front of the selectively variable energy ion beam for ion implantation. A controller configured to sequentially and uniformly expose the entire workpiece to each of the plurality of discrete energies of the ion beam while the workpiece is held on a workpiece support within the terminal station during the selective change of the energy of the ion beam; and a thermal device configured to control a temperature of the workpiece on the workpiece support at a predetermined processing temperature, wherein the predetermined processing temperature is associated with one of a high-temperature configuration and a low-temperature configuration of the ion implantation system, wherein the workpiece is held on the workpiece support within the terminal station during the selective change of the energy of the ion beam.

10. The ion implantation system of claim 9, wherein the thermal device includes a thermal clamp, wherein the thermal clamp is configured to heat the workpiece in the high-temperature configuration to a temperature greater than approximately 300°C.

11. The ion implantation system of claim 10, further comprising one or more power supplies operatively coupled to one or more of the acceleration / deceleration stages, wherein one or more inputs comprise one or more electrical bias signals.

12. The ion implantation system of claim 11, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage includes an electrode post having one or more electrode pairs, wherein the one or more bias signals are supplied to the one or more electrode pairs of the electrode post, and wherein the electrode post includes one or more of an ion beam accelerator, an ion beam decelerator, and a curved electrode.

13. The ion implantation system of claim 11, further comprising the controller operatively coupled to the one or more power supplies and configured to selectively change the one or more electrical bias signals supplied to the acceleration / deceleration stage according to a plurality of programmed recipes.

14. The ion implantation system of claim 9, wherein the workpiece support includes a single workpiece support configured to support only one workpiece.

15. The ion implantation system of claim 9 further includes a scanning device configured to scan one or more of the ion beam and the workpiece support relative to each other along a first scanning axis and a second scanning axis.

16. An ion implantation system configured to provide a selectively variable energy ion beam to a workpiece, the ion implantation system comprising: an ion source configured to ionize a doped material and generate an ion beam; and an acceleration / deceleration stage configured to receive the ion beam, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage is configured to selectively change one energy of the ion beam based on one or more inputs to the acceleration / deceleration stage, thereby defining the selectively variable energy ion beam at a plurality of discrete energies; A terminal station located downstream of the acceleration / deceleration stage, comprising a workpiece support configured to selectively position the workpiece in front of the selectively variable energy ion beam for ion implantation, wherein the workpiece is held within the terminal station and continuously exposed to the ion beam as the energy of the ion beam selectively changes; and a controller configured to sequentially and uniformly expose the entire workpiece to each of the plurality of discrete energies of the ion beam when the workpiece is held on the workpiece support within the terminal station as the energy of the ion beam selectively changes.

17. The ion implantation system of claim 16, further comprising one or more power supplies operatively coupled to one or more of the acceleration / deceleration stages, wherein one or more inputs comprise one or more electrical bias signals.

18. The ion implantation system of claim 17, wherein the acceleration / deceleration stage includes an electrode post having one or more electrode pairs, and wherein the one or more bias signals are supplied to the one or more electrode pairs of the electrode post, and wherein the electrode post includes one or more of an ion beam accelerator, an ion beam decelerator, and a curved electrode.

19. The ion implantation system of claim 17 further includes the controller, which is operatively coupled to the one or more power supplies and configured to selectively change the one or more electrical bias signals supplied to the acceleration / deceleration stage according to a plurality of programmed recipes.

20. The ion implantation system of claim 16, further comprising a thermal device configured to control the temperature of one of the workpieces on a predetermined processing temperature on the workpiece support, wherein the predetermined processing temperature is associated with one of a high-temperature configuration and a low-temperature configuration of the ion implantation system.

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