Deterministic single-ion implantation method for extending CMOS technologies

The true potential of semiconductors, the basic material in transistors, has been realized by adding dopants to tailor their electronic properties; this has conventionally been achieved through a doping process. Doping control is an essential requirement, particularly when the device scale is in the deep sub-30 nm regime. In the immediate future, scaled-down transistors will contain only a small number of dopants in the channel, where a random distribution of dopants will cause significant variations in transistor performances. Future complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies will require the placement of dopants in a predetermined location, namely, a single-dopant control. This chapter introduces deterministic doping, that is, a single-ion implantation method, which enables us to implant dopant ions one by one into a fine semiconductor region until the desired number is reached. The technique may increase the prospects for extending CMOS technologies and enable single-dopant-based electronic applications.