Future generations of Si technology will require ultra shallow junctions (tens of nm) in the drain and source regions of MOS transistors. Fabrication of such shallow p-type junctions requires implantation of boron at ultra low energies (≡1keV), below the limits of standard ion implantation technology. A proposed solution involves implantation of B₁₀H_X⁺ ions in which boron atoms carry less than 10% of the beam energy. Thus shallow implantation may be possible with standard ion implanters operating at tens of kV.

This thesis is a part of the feasibility study of this novel technology. The ionization of decaborane (B₁₀H₁₄) under different electron impact energies and temperature was investigated by ion mass spectroscopy. It was found that the molecule is more robust than expected and that most of the generated ions contained ten boron atoms. An electron impact ion source was designed and its operation simulated using an ion optics program SIMION. Based on the simulation results, an experimental ion source was constructed and its operating characteristics were measured with argon. Experimental ion beam extraction and focussing conditions are in agreement with simulations. The source will be a part of an experimental ion implantation system being built at the Ion Beam and Thin Film Research Laboratory at NJIT.