Anneal techniques for chalcogenide semiconductors

摘要

Techniques for precisely controlling the composition of volatile components (such as sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tin (Sn)) of chalcogenide semiconductors in real-time—during production of the material are provided. In one aspect, a method for forming a chalcogenide semiconductor material includes providing a S source(s) and a Se source(s); heating the S source(s) to form a S-containing vapor; heating the Se source(s) to form a Se-containing vapor; passing a carrier gas first through the S-containing vapor and then through the Se-containing vapor, wherein the S-containing vapor and the Se-containing vapor are transported via the carrier gas to a sample; and contacting the S-containing vapor and the Se-containing vapor with the sample under conditions sufficient to form the chalcogenide semiconductor material. A multi-chamber processing apparatus is also provided.

主权项

1. A method for forming a chalcogenide semiconductor material, the method comprising the steps of:
heating the at least one sulfur source in a first chamber to form a sulfur-containing vapor; heating the at least one selenium source in a second chamber to form a selenium-containing vapor, wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are part of a sequence of chambers connected in series such that an outlet of one of the chambers is connected to an inlet of an adjacent one of the chambers in the sequence; passing a carrier gas first through the first chamber and then through the second chamber, wherein the sulfur-containing vapor and the selenium-containing vapor are transported via the carrier gas to a sample containing at least one precursor component of the chalcogenide semiconductor material; contacting the sulfur-containing vapor and the selenium-containing vapor with the sample under conditions sufficient to form the chalcogenide semiconductor material; and further comprising the steps of: heating at least one tin source in a third chamber to form a tin-containing vapor, wherein the third chamber is part of the sequence of chambers connected in series; and passing the carrier gas in sequence through the first chamber, the second chamber, and then the third chamber, wherein the sulfur-containing vapor, the selenium-containing vapor, and the tin-containing vapor are transported via the carrier gas to the sample; and contacting the sulfur-containing vapor, the selenium-containing vapor, and the tin-containing vapor with the sample under conditions sufficient to form the chalcogenide semiconductor material; and wherein the first chamber is located before the second chamber, and the second chamber is located before the third chamber in the sequence of chambers such that the carrier gas passes first through the sulfur-containing vapor in the first chamber, then through the selenium-containing vapor in the second chamber, and finally through the tin-containing vapor in the third chamber.