Micro and Nanoelectronics
ELL732
Lecture 3
Dhiman Mallick
Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi
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Semester I – 2024 - 2025
Diamond Lattice
❖ The basic crystal structure for many important semiconductors is the fcc lattice with a basis of two atoms,
giving rise to the diamond structure, characteristic of Si, Ge, and C in the diamond form.
❖ In many compound semiconductors, atoms are arranged in a basic diamond structure, but are different
on alternating sites. This is called a zinc blende structure and is typical of the III–V compounds.
The tetrahedral structure of closest
neighbors in the diamond lattice.
The diamond structure
Diamond Lattice
Portions of the diamond lattice: (a) bottom half and (b) top half.
Diamond Lattice
The diamond structure can be thought of as an fcc lattice with an extra atom placed at a/4 + b/4 +
c/4 from each of the fcc atoms.
Diamond lattice structure: (a) a unit cell of the diamond lattice constructed by
placing atoms 1/4, 1/4, 1/4 from each atom in an fcc; (b) top view of an extended
diamond lattice. The colored circles indicate one fcc sublattice and the black circles
indicate the interpenetrating fcc.
Zincblende Lattice
❖ If the atoms are all similar, we call this structure a
diamond lattice;
❖ If the atoms differ on alternating sites, it is a zinc
blende structure.
❖ For example, if one fcc sublattice is composed of Ga
atoms and the interpenetrating sublattice is As, the
zinc blende structure of GaAs results.
❖ The ability to vary the mixture of elements on each of
the two interpenetrating fcc sublattices of the zinc
blende crystal.
❖ Ternary or Quaternary compound semiconductors –
wide range of optical and electronic properties
(100) Family of Planes
(110) Family of Planes
(111) Family of Planes
Silicon Crystallography
• (100) plane – softest
• (111) plane – hardest
• Etch rate in the (111) plane is
two to three orders of
magnitude smaller than that of
the (100) or (110) planes
• Along with the bond density, the
number of the dangling bonds
and the type of bonds also
contribute
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Anisotropic Etching
Relationship among different dimensions:
2ℎ
𝑊=𝑤+
tan(54.74𝑜)
KOH:
• High etch rate and anisotropy
• CMOS incompatibility
• Aggressive
• Difficult to find etching mask
Anisotropic wet etching of Silicon • LPCVD grown nitrides are preferred over
PECVD grown nitrides
EDP:
• CMOS compatible
• Relatively high etch rate
• SiO2, Si3N4, metals – mask material
• Very toxic, degrades quickly
TMAH:
• CMOS compatible
• Higher anisotropy than EDP 10
• Etch rate slower than KOH or EDP
Wafer Flats:
Purpose and Function
1. Orientation for automatic equipment
2. Indicate type and orientation of crystal
Primary Flat = The flat of longest length located in the circumference of the wafer. The
primary flat has a specified crystal orientation relative to the wafer surface; major flat.
Secondary Flat = Indicates the crystal orientation and doping of the wafer. The location of
this flat varies.
P type <111> No secondary Flat
P type <100> 90° Anti-Clockwise from Primary Flat
N type <111> 45° Anti-Clockwise from Primary Flat
N type <100> 180° Anti-Clockwise from Primary Flat
Example
Example: Find the [021] direction
❖ The raw feedstock for Si crystal is silicon dioxide
(SiO2).
❖ Metallurgical grade Si (MGS) – impurity in ppm.
❖ Electronnic grade Si (EGS) – impurity in ppb.
Growth of Single- Crystal Ingots – Czochralski Method Single-crystal Ingot
Pulling of a Si crystal from the melt (Czochralski method)
Calculate the volume density of Si atoms (number of atoms/cm3), given that the lattice constant of Si is
5.43Å. Calculate the areal density of atoms (number/cm2) on the (100) plane.
Hexagonal Closed Pack (HCP)
References
• Semiconductor Physics and Devices- Basic Principles by
Donald A. Neamen
• Solid State Electronic Devices by Ben G. Streetman and
Sanjay Kumar Banerjee
• Physics of Semiconductor Devices by S.M. Sze and Kwok K.
Ng
• State-of-the-art Research Papers
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