Chapter 4 Electronic Defects in CW Transient Thermal Processed Silicon

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the ongoing study of the residual defects in recrystallize bulk silicon and introduces a subject of electronic defect evaluation in crystallized silicon thin films. The chapter examines the problem of residual defects that result from the use of CW transient thermal sources to recrystallize the amorphous layer created by high-dose ion implantation in silicon. This is of central importance in silicon integrated circuit processing because of the extensive use of ion implantation to introduce dopant impurities for spatially controlling the free-carrier concentration. The displacement damage created by ion implantation is conventionally removed by furnace annealing, which also electrically activates the implanted impurities through their placement on substitutional lattice sites. General experimental considerations of device fabrication and measurements of electronic defects are discussed in the chapter. In bulk single-crystal silicon, several forms of energy beams have been used to recrystallize the amorphous layer created by high-dose ion implantation. The features of CW beam processing include spatial selection of annealed regions, negligible dopant redistribution, and retention of majority-carrier transport properties.