Abstract text

One aspect of this disclosure relates to a semiconductor structure, comprising a gettering region proximate to a device region in a semiconductor wafer. The gettering region includes a precisely-determined arrangement of a plurality of precisely-formed voids through a surface transformation process. Each of the voids has an interior surface that includes dangling bonds such that the plurality of voids getter impurities from the at least one device region. The structure includes a transistor formed using the device region. The transistor includes a gate dielectric over the device region, a gate over the gate dielectric, and a first diffusion region and a second diffusion region formed in the device region. The first and second diffusion regions are separated by a channel region formed in the device region between the gate and the proximity gettering region.