SOLID PHASE RECRYSTALLIZATION OF A MECHANICALLY DISRUPTED SILICON LAYER SUBJECTED TO RAPID THERMAL TREATMENT

Abstract

Quality and reliability of integrated circuits to a great extent depend on the surface condition of silicon wafers. In view of this, great attention is paid on the aspects of their preparation prior to their formation. It is of significant interest to study the possibility of applying rapid thermal treatment for solid phase re-crystallization of a mechanically disrupted layer of the wafer working side. The objective of this work was to establish the behavior regularities of a mechanically disrupted layer subjected to rapid thermal treatment with 2 s light pulses. As samples, there were used the silicon wafers with a diameter of 100 mm, grade KDB 12 and KEF 4.5, orientation <100> after chemical-mechanical polishing subjected to rapid thermal treatment during 7 s, which ensured their heating up to 1100 °C and without treatment. The application of the methods of Auger-spectroscopy, spectral ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction made it possible to state that such treatment increases the structural flawlessness of the surface layer of silicon wafers due to a decrease in the mechanically disrupted layer, thus ensuring obtaining the atomic-flat surface.