PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16000053
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-06
Publication Date: 2019-02
Patent Classification: ["257", "659000"]

Abstract:
A semiconductor structure, a method, and an apparatus for in-situ sulfur vapor passivation of an interface surface of an indium gallium arsenide layer of the semiconductor structure. A method includes elemental sulfur-vapor passivation of an interface surface of an indium gallium arsenide layer disposed on a substrate. A dielectric layer can be deposited on the sulfur-vapor passivated interface surface. An annealing process can be performed after the deposition of the dielectric layer. The annealing process anneals the indium gallium arsenide layer including the sulfur-vapor passivated interface surface and the dielectric layer disposed on the sulfur-vapor passivated interface surface. The sulfur-vapor passivation, the deposition of the dielectric layer, and the anneal, can be performed in-situ in a vacuum chamber without breaking a vacuum of the vacuum chamber following a III-V material growth process in the vacuum chamber to form the indium gallium arsenide layer.

Claim (Index 1):
An apparatus for in-situ sulfur-vapor passivation of an interface surface of an indium gallium arsenide layer of a semiconductor structure, the apparatus comprising:\n at least one vacuum chamber equipped with a set of vacuum pumps, controllable by a fabrication controller, for generating and maintaining a high vacuum environment below 10 \u22123  Torr in the at least one vacuum chamber, the at least one vacuum chamber having a main chamber compartment for sulfur-vapor passivation of an interface surface of an indium gallium arsenide layer disposed on a substrate located in a work area in the main chamber compartment; a sulfur source heating chamber compartment for heating a material comprising sulfur to a temperature of at least 150\u00b0 C. to generate thermally-cracked pure sulfur vapor flux in the sulfur source heating chamber; a sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel mechanically coupled at one end to the sulfur source heating chamber compartment and an output end of the sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel extending away from the sulfur source heating chamber compartment, the sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel providing a sulfur vapor flux coupling channel for transferring the sulfur vapor flux generated in the sulfur source heating chamber compartment to the work area in the main chamber compartment, the sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel for heating sulfur vapor flux transferred through the sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel to a temperature of at least 700\u00b0 C. to generate highly reactive thermally-cracked pure sulfur vapor flux that is more reactive than the sulfur vapor flux generated in the sulfur source heating chamber; and a substrate holder in the work area in the main chamber compartment of the at least one vacuum chamber, the substrate holder for holding, in the work area, at least one substrate with an indium gallium arsenide layer disposed on each of the at least one substrate, the indium gallium arsenide layer having an exposed interface surface, and the output end of the sulfur vapor thermally cracking zone channel being aimed toward the substrate holder in the work area in the main chamber compartment to uniformly distribute the thermally-cracked pure sulfur vapor flux from the output end directly onto the exposed interface surface of the indium gallium arsenide layer disposed on each of the at least one substrate held by the substrate holder in the work area in the main chamber compartment of the at least one vacuum chamber.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 3.0
- Percentile: 94.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.8
- Patent Class: 257.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15997939', '15670300', '15855273', '15815997', '15404462']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.9033062819405372
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5928106048242466
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8722567142289083
- Mean Citation Score: 307.359548
- Max Citation Score: 512.6115
- Similarity Product: 430.8288820052146

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test