Method of Making Silicon-Insulator-Polysilicon Infrared Image Device Utilizing Epitaxial Deposition and Selective Etching

This invention is in the field of solid-state imaging detectors for infrared. Various types of such detectors have been proposed, but have been difficult to make with good definition, because of a lack of both optical and electrical isolation between elemental detector elements. The instant invention takes advantage of the known (and desirable) silicon-insulator-polysilicon (SIP) on-chip growth technology.

The invention is a method of making an infrared imaging device. The method uses SIP chip growth technology to form a two-dimensional array of incremental extrinsic detectors. During processing of the chip for the detectors, charge coupled devices (CCDs) are also made on the chip. These CCDs are connected to respective detectors through coupling regions and to readout (drive) lines on the chip.

FIG. 1 is a pictoral view of a portion of a device made in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for the inventive method.

The invention may perhaps be best understood by referring to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows layer 10 of polysilicon which acts as a mechanical support of the remainder of the device made in accordance with the invention. Layer 11 is a silicon dioxide layer on layer 10, and layer 11a is a thin thermal oxide layer on layer 11. On layer 11a are doped epi-silicon detectors 12 having electrical connecting leads 13 and 14. As can be seen, lead 13 is common to one side of each of detectors 12. Reference numeral 15 designates an island of silicon doped for CCD's 16 having drive conductors 17. Additionally, coupling regions 19, consisting of electrodes and doped areas, are on island 15. Each of detectors 12 is connected to a respective one of coupling regions 19 by respective leads 14 for readout of the detectors. For conventional three phase CCD readout, three electrodes 17 are associated with each coupling region 19. The three electrodes may be considered a unit cell for the CCD. It should be understood that detectors 12 are in a two-dimensional array, althrough only a portion of one row of the array is shown.

The method whereby the above-described device may be produced begins with a growth substrate of relatively impure N.sup.+ silicon, as seen in FIG. 2. We grow a layer of epitaxial silicon atop the growth substrate, a silicon dioxide or other suitable insulating layer on the epitaxial layer, and a polysilicon support layer on the insulator layer. We then remove the N.sup.+ silicon growth substrate (as by etching), invert the remaining laminate, and apply a photomask or a silicon dioxide mask. Through openings in the mask we etch away the epitaxial silicon layer to form islands of epitaxial silicon on the underlying insulator layer, some islands to act as detectors, and another as a CCD area. We then strip or etch away the mask and apply a masking oxide. Atop this mask oxide we apply a photomask. Through the photomask we etch away the mask oxide to expose areas on the CCD island. These areas we dope to form part of the CCD input regions. Next we remove the photomask, apply another photomask for the detector islands, and dope the detector islands. We remove the last mentioned photomask and create a gate oxide (thermal oxide) in the usual manner. On this gate oxide we apply another photomask and etch through this photomask to expose the doped areas on the CCD island and to expose areas on the detector islands. We then deposit a metalization layer and pattern this photomask using a final photomask to produce CCD conductors and detector conductors. Finally (and not shown in the drawings), we strip the final mask and cover the etched, metalized side of our laminate with infrared transparent glass or any of the other well-known protective layers.

While a particular method has been described whereby our invention may be made, obviously variations are possible in the method without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. Specifically, the various photomasks could all be silicon dioxide, and would be stripped by etching. Obviously, any such etching must be carefully monitored, to avoid etching the silicon dioxide layer carrying the epitaxial silicon layer. Moreover, various steps of the method might be interchanged or combined. For example, the detectors and the CCD regions might be doped before the epitaxial silicon is etched into islands. Depending on the nature of the epitaxial silicon used, it may or may not be necessary to lightly dope the entire CCD island. The dopants used to form the CCDs and the detectors are well known in the art and are not themselves critical to the invention. The only requirements are that they are able to make the epitaxial silicon layer form infrared sensitive or CCD regions as desired. If the various dopants are applied after the islands are formed, there need be little worry of migration or diffusion between islands, since the islands lie on a silicon dioxide or other suitable insulator layer. Other suitable layers include aluminum oxide, evaporated silicon dioxide glass, and silicon nitride. The word "doping" as used herein is intended to describe diffusion of dopant into a material layer at elevated temperature. However, well known implantation of dopant by ion bombardment may be used, with appropriate modification of the described method.