High density isolation using an implant as a polish stop

摘要

A process for forming high density isolation for very large scale integration on semiconductor chips, comprising the steps of: orientation-dependent etching a portion of a semiconductor substrate to form protruding features on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; forming a layer of insulation above the etched portion of the semiconductor substrate; implanting atoms and/or ions of a non-conductive material to a first predetermined depth into the insulation layer and a second predetermined depth into the protruding features in the semiconductor substrate to provide a detectible change in material characteristic at that depth; and polishing the insulation layer and protruding features down to a depth determined by detecting the change in material characteristic to thereby remove a top portion of the protruding features to form a first surface on each of a plurality of the protruding features.