Polymeric precision doping as an emerging technology for the downscaling of microelectronic devices: State of the art

The pressing trend towards downscaling of microelectronic devices constantly requires updated technologies capable of precise control of dopant atom dose in semiconductive substrates. An emerging approach based on the grafting reaction of functionalized dopant polymers, named Polymeric Precision Doping (PPD), has proven to be a promising candidate in this direction. Precisely, the molecular weight of the dopant polymers was demonstrated to be an effective key for the precise control of doping process. In this review, the overall PPD process is described paying particular focus on the physico-chemical mechanism underlying the grafting reaction of dopant polymers. Furthermore, all the already reported dopant polymers are described, moving from first generation systems characterized by narrow distributions of molecular weights to the most recent developments of totally monodisperse bioinspired polymers.