Ion implantation

Ion implantation is a process for introducing impurity atoms into a base material to change the material properties. It is mainly used for doping semiconductors with impurity atoms. The impurity atoms are referred to as dopant elements; for this, a distinction is made between donors which release electrons in the crystal lattice, and acceptors which accept electrons.
In ion implantation, impurity atoms are ionised, accelerated in the electric field and “shot” into the substrate, usually silicon. Typical dopant elements are: boron, phosphor, arsenic, indium, germanium, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon. These impurity atoms occupy lattice sites in the crystal instead of the atoms of the base material.