Rapid Thermal Annealing Conditions Research Articles

Enhancing Up-Conversion Luminescence Using Dielectric Metasurfaces: Role of the Quality Factor of Resonance at a Pumping Wavelength.

Photonic applications of up-conversion luminescence (UCL) suffer from poor external quantum yield owing to a low absorption cross-section of UCL nanoparticles (UCNPs) doped with lanthanide ions. In this regard, plasmonic nanostructures have been proposed for enhancing UCL intensity through strong electromagnetic local-field enhancement; however, their intrinsic ohmic loss opens additional nonradiative decay channels. Herein, we demonstrate that dielectric metasurfaces can overcome this disadvantage. A periodic array of amorphous-silicon nanodisks serves as a metasurface on which a layer of UCNPs is self-assembled. Sharp resonances supported by the metasurface overlap the absorption wavelength (λ = 980 nm) of UCNPs to excite them, resulting in the enhancement of UCL intensity. We further sharpen the resonances through rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of the metasurface, crystallizing silicon to reduce intrinsic optical losses. By optimizing the RTA condition (at 1000 °C for 20 min in N2/H2 (3 vol %) atmosphere), the resonance quality factor improves from 17.2 to 32.9, accompanied by an increase in the enhancement factor of the UCL intensity from 86- to over 600-fold. Moreover, a reduction in the intrinsic optical losses mitigates the UCL thermal quenching under a high excitation density. These findings provide a strategy for increasing light-matter interactions in nanophotonic composite systems and promote UCNP applications.

Effect of Rapid Thermal Annealing Conditions on the Specific Resistance of the Ohmic Contacts of Ti/Al/Ni/Au Metallization to the GaN/AlGaN Heterostructure

Effect of rapid thermal annealing conditions on the specific resistance of the ohmic contacts of Ti/Al/Ni/Au metallization with layer thicknesses of 20/120/40/40 nm to the GaN/AlGaN heterostructure with a two-dimensional electron gas on a sapphire substrate has been discovered by transmission line measurement. Rapid thermal annealing of the samples was carried out by the contact heating from the sapphire substrate side in a nitrogen atmosphere at the temperature range from 750 to 1000 °C for 30, 60, and 90 s. It has been discovered that the dependence of the specific contact resistance on the temperature contains two temperature optimums, at which the specific contact resistance of the ohmic contact is less than 1 ⋅ 10–4 Ohm⋅ cm2. The appearance of the first temperature optimum is due to the decrease of the distance from the diffusion front of the low-resistance layer of intermetallic compounds formed during the rapid thermal annealing of the Ti/Al/Ni/Au metallization to the region of the two-dimensional electron gas. Outside the first temperature optimum, an increase in the specific contact resistance of up to 9 ⋅ 10–3 Ohm⋅ cm2 is observed, due to the absorption of the AlGaN layer by a low-resistance layer of intermetallic compounds, which leads to the degradation of the two-dimensional electron gas under the contacts and deterioration of its conductive properties. The second temperature optimum is due to the passage of the diffusion front of the two-dimensional electron gas region and the establishment of a side contact between the low-resistance intermetallic layer and the two-dimensional electron gas, which leads to the decrease in the specific contact resistance. With an increase in the fast thermal annealing time from 30 to 90 s the shift of the interval of the first temperature optimum from 800 to 775 °C for the lower boundary and from 825 to 800 °C for the upper boundary, and for the second temperature optimum from 875 to 850 °C for the lower boundary, and from 950 to 875 °C for the upper boundary is observed, which is due to an equivalent increase in the diffusion depth of the Ti/Al/Ni/Au metallization components. The results obtained can be used in the technology for creating GaN-based products with a two-dimensional electron gas.

Influence of rapid thermal annealing time on physical properties of Mg and F co-doped ZnO thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

• Mg-F co-doped ZnO (MFZO) thin films are deposited by magnetron sputtering. • Conductivity of MFZO films increases by 37% after the rapid thermal annealing. • The average visible transmittances of the annealed MFZO films exceed 93%. • The annealed MFZO film achieves a high figure of merit (FOM) of 1.18 × 10-2 Ω-1. • The high-FOM MFZO thin films could be used as transparent conducting films. Transparent conducting oxides are commonly used in flat-panel displays, solar cells, light emitting diodes, and other optoelectronic devices. In this study, transparent conducting Mg and F co-doped ZnO (MFZO) thin films were prepared by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering and a post-deposition rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was carried out at 400°C in vacuum. To study the influence of RTA on structural, electrical, and optical properties of the MFZO thin films, the RTA processing time is varied (0–120 s). X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the co-doping of 3.0 at% Mg and 6.0 at% F did not change the (0 0 2) oriented hexagonal wurtzite structure of the MFZO films, while the RTA process effectively improved its crystal quality. The intensity and full width at half maximum of the (0 0 2) peaks revealed that the MFZO films had the optimum crystallinity at the RTA time of 15–60 s and the largest grain size at the RTA time of 30 s. Under this optimal RTA condition, the electrical conductivity increased by 37%, reaching the optimum Hall mobility of 12.5 cm 2 /Vs, carrier concentration of 3.94 × 10 20 cm −3 , and resistivity of 1.27 × 10 −3 Ω cm. The average total transmittance in the visible region (380 – 780 nm) increased to more than 93% at the RTA duration of 15–60 s, and then decreased for a longer RTA time. The optical band gap, determined from the absorption edge of transmittance using Tauc plot, increased from 3.745 to 3.798 eV after RTA for 30 s. The figure of merit (FOM) of the MFZO film increased by 52% to 1.18 × 10 −2 Ω −1 . Thanks to the use of appropriate dopants and RTA process, this high FOM is much superior to previous research results on MFZO thin films with FOMs ranging from 10 −6 to 10 −3 Ω −1 . This work provides a fast and low-temperature approach to realize high-FOM MFZO thin films to fulfill the requirements of a transparent electrode in optoelectronic devices.

Investigation of the Effects of Rapid Thermal Annealing on the Electron Transport Mechanism in Nitrogen-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering.

Nitrogen-doped ZnO (ZnO:N) thin films, deposited on Si(100) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering in a gas mixture of argon, oxygen, and nitrogen at different ratios followed by Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) at 400 °C and 550 °C, were studied in the present work. Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopic analyses showed that introduction of N into the ZnO matrix generated defects related to oxygen and zinc vacancies and interstitials. These defects were deep levels which contributed to the electron transport properties of the ZnO:N films, studied by analyzing the current–voltage characteristics of metal–insulator–semiconductor structures with ZnO:N films, measured at 298 and 77 K. At the appliedtechnological conditions of deposition and subsequent RTA at 400 °C n-type ZnO:N films were formed, while RTA at 550 °C transformed the n-ZnO:N films to p-ZnO:N ones. The charge transport in both types of ZnO:N films was carried out via deep levels in the ZnO energy gap. The density of the deep levels was in the order of 1019 cm−3. In the temperature range of 77–298 K, the electron transport mechanism in the ZnO:N films was predominantly intertrap tunneling, but thermally activated hopping also took place.

TiO2 / p-Si paste heterojunction fabricated by rapid thermal annealing

TiO2/p-Si paste heterojunction structure, which showed photovoltaic characteristics, was successfully fabricated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). To reduce the oxidation of Si paste during the RTA, Ti was sputtered on the p-type Si paste. It was found that the RTA condition of 1200 °C/2 s enabled the Si paste to achieve the lowest oxidation and the best crystallization conditions, as well as the transformation of the Ti layer into the rutile TiO2 phase. It was observed that some molten Si grain lumps appeared on the surface of the sample annealed at 1200 °C for 2 s. This phenomenon was due to the melting process of the surface Si particles promoted by the Ti layer. Typical rectifying characteristics and photocurrent density of 36 μA/cm2 under AM1.5 were observed with the TiO2/p-Si paste heterojunction device annealed at 1200 °C for 2 s. This study shows an application potential of Si paste films for such devices as future solar cell.

Reaction of titanium-modulated nickel with germanium-tin under microwave and rapid thermal annealing

As the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible with group IV materials, germanium tin (GeSn) alloys have potential applications in photonics and microelectronics. With the increase of tin (Sn) content, GeSn alloys can change from indirect bandgap semiconductor to direct bandgap semiconductor. On the other hand, GeSn alloys have a higher hole mobility than Ge and can be used as channel materials in metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Therefore, the properties of GeSn alloys are studied extensively. In this work, the solid-phase reaction between Ni and GeSn is investigated under microwave annealing (MWA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) conditions. We use the four-point probe method to measure the sheet resistance, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine the surface morphology of the sample, the cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) to analyze the microstructures of the metal stanogermanides, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) to observe the elements’ distribution of different samples. It is shown that the flat Nickel stanogermanide (NiGeSn) films are obtained at 300 ℃ for MWA and at 350 ℃ for RTA. By analyzing the distributions of sample elements, we find that Sn atoms continue to diffuse into the NiGeSn layer and are segregate mainly at the interface between NiGeSn and GeSn. However, the Ti atoms move from interlayer to the surface after being annealed. We propose that this method is a promising way of developing GeSn devices in the future.

Synthesis of Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>: Eu Nanosized Phosphor Using Hydrothermal Technique and Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA)

The application of special nanomaterials is promising for the development of new methods for the diagnostics and treatment of cancer. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-known and recognized method of cancer treatment. This type of therapy is less carcinogenic and mutagenic compared to radiation and chemotherapy, since the applied photosensitizers do not bind to DNA of the cells. However, currently this technique is only applicable to skin cancer, while its extension to the treatment of abdominal tumors requires the creation of pharmacological drugs for PDT, which along with a photosensitizer include a colloidal solution of nanosized luminescent phosphor emitting visible light with the required wavelength under the influence of infrared, X-ray or γ-radiation, which easily penetrates the body tissues. Since photosensitizers are already available as commercial products, the most important goal is the development of nanosized phosphors providing the required radiation convertion. In this study, the effects of hydrothermal synthesis, duration and the conditions of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on Y2O3:Eu phosphor particle size were studied. The hydrothermal synthesis technique was carried out in two ways: chloride (precipitation from a chloride solution using NaOH and NH4OH precipitators) and acetate (decomposition of mixed acetate either without a dispersant at 230° C for 24 hours, or using PEG-200 and PEG-2000 as dispersants at 230 °C for 12 hours). The rapid thermal annealing was performed either at 600 °C for 20 minutes, or at 800 °C for 5 minutes. The developed synthetic approaches afforded Y2O3:Eu nanosized phosphor samples with the particle size not exceeding 200 nm.

The hydrothermal synthesis and RTA conditions influence on the Y2O3:Eu nanosized phosphors microstructure

When developing new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the use of nanomaterials may be promising. One of the ways to improve and expand the fields of application of radiation and photodynamic therapy of cancer is the use of drugs containing nanosized phosphors. The aim of the work was to study the effect of the duration of hydrothermal synthesis and the conditions of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the Y2O3:Eu nanosized phosphors microstructure. The hydrothermal synthesis technique was carried out in two ways: chloride (precipitation from a chloride solution using NaOH and NH4OH precipitators) and acetate (decomposition of mixed acetate without a dispersant, as well as with PEG-200 and PEG-2000 dispersants). Hydrothermal synthesis was carried out at a temperature of 230 °C for 6–24 hours. Rapid thermal annealing was carried out at a temperature of 600–800 °C for 5–20 minutes. As a result of our work, the Y2O3:Eu nanosized phosphors which particle size does not exceed 200 nm is synthesized.

Improvement of Surface Defects in CdZnTe Crystals by Rapid Thermal Annealing

We have investigated the influence of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the surface defects of CdZnTe (CZT) crystals by using low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements. In the low-temperature PL spectrum for the as-grown CZT crystals, the donor–acceptor pair (DAP) recombination peak is dominant. Overlapping of the free-exciton (FE) and the neutral donor bound exciton (D0,X) luminescence peaks leads to broadening of the (D0,X) peak. In the low-temperature PL spectra for CZT crystals annealed at 523 K and 623 K for 5 min, the A-center peak is dominant. The deterioration of the intensity and FWHM of the (D0,X) peak indicates worsening of the crystal quality under the two RTA conditions. In the low-temperature PL spectra for CZT crystals annealed at 723 K, 773 K and 873 K for 5 min, an FE peak gradually becomes evident as the annealing temperature increases. The full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of the (D0,X) peak decreases from 7.95 meV before annealing to 2.85 meV after annealing at 873 K. The neutral acceptor bound exciton (A0,X) peak intensity increases with the annealing temperature increasing. The peak intensity ratio I(D0,X)/I(DAP) increases from ∼ 0.24 before annealing to ∼ 1.62 after annealing at 873 K. The A-center peak intensity decreases with the increase in annealing temperature. These phenomena demonstrate better surface structure and higher crystal quality under the three RTA conditions, especially for the annealing at 873 K. RTA treatment can be an effective way to improve the surface properties of CZT crystals by modifying the technical parameters.

In situ transmission electron microscopy of solid phase epitaxy of Ge on Fe3Si

This work presents the in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation of the solid-phase epitaxy of Ge on cubic Fe3Si. Amorphous Ge layers were deposited at room temperature in an ultra-high vacuum growth chamber. Subsequent annealing experiments in the microscope between 200 °C and 500 °C are performed both with slow heating rate and under rapid thermal annealing conditions to observe the amorphous/crystalline phase transition with high spatial resolution and to clarify the crystal lattice alignment during the solid phase epitaxial growth. Time-dependent high-resolution TEM measurements are used to analyse the crystallization kinetics following a square root characteristic. By means of energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy in the TEM, Fe diffusion into the crystallized Ge film is detected at higher temperature and the influence on the crystal phase formation of FeGe2 will be discussed with respect to epitaxial strain and thermal treatments.

Trap‐Limited Vacancy Diffusion in Silicon at High Temperatures

A high‐temperature vacancy diffusivity (DV) in silicon crystals is high and consistent with the extrapolated low‐temperature diffusivity by Watkins. On the other hand, the apparent vacancy diffusivity in silicon wafers is significantly smaller than DV. In particular, this has become more evident by recently reported vacancy‐related donor profiles in high‐resistivity wafers subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The reported donor depth profiles are complicated and strongly dependent on the RTA conditions. Yet, they are well reproduced, assuming that wafers (in contrast to the crystals) contain an appreciable amount of some impurity that acts as an efficient trap for vacancies even in a high‐temperature range of RTA. The true vacancy diffusivity and the equilibrium ratio of the vacancy and self‐interstitial concentrations are deduced from these data.

Fabrication of Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films Based on Facile Nanocrystals-Printing Approach with Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) Process

In the current study, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film was successfully fabricated by the facile nanocrystals (NCs)-printing approach combined with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. Firstly, the CZTS NCs were synthesized by a thermal solution method and the possible formation mechanism was analyzed briefly. Then the influences of RTA toleration temperature and duration time on the various properties of as-printed thin films were examined via XRD, Raman, FE-SEM, UV-vis-IR spectroscopy, EDS and XPS treatments in detail. As observed, the RTA factors of temperature and time had significant impacts on the structure and morphology of as-prepared thin films, while there were no obvious effects on the band gap energy in studied conditions. The results showed that the obtained thin film at optimal RTA conditions of (600 °C, 20 min) featured a kesterite structure in pure phase and an irregular morphology consisting of large grains. Moreover, the satisfactory composition of a Cu-poor, Zn-rich state and an ideal band gap energy of 1.4 eV suggests that as-fabricated CZTS thin film is a suitable light-absorbing layer candidate for the application in thin film solar cells.

Fabrication and Characterization of High-Efficiency Green InGaN Light-Emitting Diodes With Metal-Doped ITO Layer

We investigate a method to improve the efficiency of green InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using various metal-doped indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent contact layers. The resistance and transmittance of metal-doped ITO with different metal thicknesses and different rapid thermal annealing conditions were studied and analyzed systematically. It is found that extinction coefficient and surface roughness of ITO layer are distinctly reduced by doping suitable metal and annealing in a mixture of N2/O2 (200:35) ambient at 600 °C for 3 min. In addition, it is useful to decrease the sheet resistance and provide more uniform current distribution by using the metal-doped ITO. Compared with conventional green LEDs with 80-nm ITO layer, there are an 18.9% increase in light-output power and a 1.5 V decrease in forward voltage at 120 mA for the green LEDs with 3-nm Al-doped ITO layer.

Fabrication of silver nanoparticles on glass substrate using low-temperature rapid thermal annealing

Metallic nanoparticle-based localized surface plasmon resonance phenomenon is of great interest in the field of solar cells and can increase efficiency via solar energy harvesting in the device due to their light trapping capabilities. In present research, rapid thermal annealing, a modern physical technique, has been employed for the fabrication of silver nanoparticles on glass substrates at lower temperature regime. The rapid thermal annealing is carried at temperatures 200, 250, and 300°C for annealing duration of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min of as-sputtered silver clusters and then kept for natural cooling in inert ambient which has resulted into formation of silver nanoparticles on glass substrate. The surface morphological analysis of the grown silver nanoparticles shows average particle size minimization behavior with increase in rapid thermal annealing up to 15 min duration. Thereafter an increase in average size is observed with rapid thermal annealing time duration up to 30 min for all rapid thermal annealing temperatures. A growth mechanism is suggested to explain observed changes in silver nanoparticles size behavior under rapid thermal annealing conditions. The respective absorption peaks are lying in the wavelength range of 400–500 nm which confirms the formation of silver nanoparticles. The optical study for respective size of silver nanoparticles has also been analyzed and compared with that of theoretical calculations from Mie scattering theory.

Effects of vacuum rapid thermal annealing on the electrical characteristics of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin films

We investigated the effects of vacuum rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the electrical characteristics of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin films. The a-IGZO films deposited by radiofrequency sputtering were subjected to vacuum annealing under various temperature and pressure conditions with the RTA system. The carrier concentration was evaluated by Hall measurement; the electron concentration of the a-IGZO film increased and the resistivity decreased as the RTA temperature increased under vacuum conditions. In a-IGZO thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a bottom-gate top-contact structure, the threshold voltage decreased and the leakage current increased as the vacuum RTA temperature increased. As the annealing pressure decreased, the threshold voltage decreased, and the leakage current increased. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated changes in the lattice oxygen and oxygen vacancies of the a-IGZO films after vacuum RTA. At higher annealing temperatures, the lattice oxygen decreased and oxygen vacancies increased, which suggests that oxygen was diffused out in a reduced pressure atmosphere. The formation of oxygen vacancies increased the electron concentration, which consequently increased the conductivity of the a-IGZO films and reduced the threshold voltage of the TFTs. The results showed that the oxygen vacancies and electron concentrations of the a-IGZO thin films changed with the vacuum RTA conditions and that high-temperature RTA treatment at low pressure converted the IGZO thin film to a conductor.

Electrical and interface properties of PdAl/Au metal alloyed ohmic contacts on p-type GaN for high-temperature MEMS devices

In this work, a PdAl/Au (20/30 nm) metal alloyed scheme was investigated for obtaining low resistance ohmic contacts to Mg-doped p-type GaN. The specific contact resistance (ρSCR) was determined using the circular-transmission-line pattern method between the metal contacts and p-type GaN by current–voltage (I–V) measurements. It is noted that the ρSCR of the as-deposited contact (1.23 × 10−2 Ω cm2) was enhanced upon rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 600 °C (7.82 × 10−4 Ω cm2) for 1 min under N2 ambient. The effective Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) of the various annealed contacts were determined using the Norde and I–V methods. It is observed that the effective SBHs were dependent upon the RTA conditions. According to the X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results, the gallide-related phases were formed at the PdAl/Au/p-GaN interface such as Au7Ga2 and Ga3Pd5 upon RTA at 600 °C. These phases were responsible for obtaining low contact resistivity of the PdAl/Au contact. Atomic force microscopy results show that the surface morphology (root-mean-square, RMS) of the contact was reasonably smooth even after RTA at 600 °C with an RMS roughness of 0.714 nm. Observations indicate that the PdAl/Au metal alloyed contact was a suitable ohmic contact to p-type GaN for the development of commercially viable large-scale GaN-based microelectromechanical system applications.

Study on defect annealing potential and bulk micro defect formation using high temperature RTA conditions for Cz‐grown silicon

In this paper, the key parameters of a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) nitriding step are discussed with respect to vacancy‐ and oxygen precipitate (BMD)‐profile formation. These RTA key performance parameters are the maximum NH3 dissociation temperature (i), the temperature stability of the stored vacancy peak (ii), and the defect dissolution capability of self Si agglomerates at elevated temperatures (iii). This parameter study could be helpful for a future model of the vacancy in‐diffusion process into the Si near surface region. Especially the gate oxide integrity (GOI) is an important parameter to establish long life cycles in current memory devices. After NH3 RTA processing, it was surprisingly found that the GOI defect level is still influenced by small‐sized grown in particles. It is demonstrated that a complete restoration toward a high GOI signal can be achieved via a 1300 °C RTA step. The gate oxide integrity is afterwards as good as observed on a defect free polished CZ wafer.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of GaAsSb alloys

GaAsSb ternary alloys are fundamental components of advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices in the future. The presence of localized states could greatly affect the optical properties in GaAsSb alloy, which depend on the fluctuation of alloy composition. In order to optimize the optical properties, GaAsSb alloys were treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at different temperatures, and the optical behaviors of the annealed samples were investigated in detail. During RTA, a significant reduction of the localized states was observed by photoluminescence (PL) spectral analysis. Furthermore, the RTA process also altered the distribution of the components of the GaAsSb alloy, which caused a slight red-shift of the maximum PL peak at 150 K. The relationship between the localized states and the temperature of the RTA process was also investigated. The process involving the conversion of localized carriers to free carriers was proposed. Under the suitable RTA conditions, the Sb component was homogenized and the depth of carrier localization was decreased.

Micro-Raman Characterization of Cluster Carbon Implanted Si before and after Rapid Thermal Annealing

To meet various physical property requirements of materials for advanced high performance devices, combinations of Si1-xGex and Si:C have been introduced for strain control in PMOS and NMOS regions of devices. Two types of carbon (C) doping techniques have been explored for tensile stress generation in the NMOS device region. Carbon-doped Si epitaxial growth with C doping and C-implantation into Si are two major approaches. Carbon implanted Si requires annealing for recrystallization, damage recovery and tensile strain control. Strain characterization, monitoring and control are as important as material preparation. Non-contact, non-destructive strain and crystallinity characterization techniques with high spatial resolution and virtual depth profiling capability are strongly desired for in-line monitoring. In this study, we report the micro-Raman characterization results on cluster C-implanted Si for tensile strain generation before and after various rapid thermal annealing (RTA) techniques and conditions. Phosphorous ion clusters (P4) (8 keV, 4x1015 cm-2) were implanted with carbon ion clusters (C7) targeting 1.3% and 1.5% flat C profile (~50 nm from the surface). Various excitation wavelength laser beams were used in Raman characterization for virtual strain depth profiling. Flash anneal (fRTP) at 1200oC and impulse spike anneal (iRTP) at 1000oC and 1050oC were used as annealing conditions. As-implanted Si wafers showed almost no Raman signal due to the crystalline lattice damage from high dose cluster ion beam implantation. After RTA of implanted Si wafers under different techniques and conditions, significant broadening and shift of Raman peaks towards the lower wavenumber side was measured, indicating the presence of tensile strain and crystallinity alterations. X-ray diffraction (XRD), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) depth profiling and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis results will be reported along with multiwavelength micro-Raman characterization results. Figure 1 shows 363.8nm excited micro-Raman spectra from reference Si and cluster C implanted Si wafers before and after rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Figure 1

Micro-Raman Characterization of Cluster Carbon Implanted Si before and after Rapid Thermal Annealing

Phosphorous ion clusters (P4 +) (8 keV, 4x1015 cm-2) were implanted with carbon ion clusters (C7) targeting 1.30 at.% and 1.50 at. % flat C profile (~50 nm from the surface) for NMOS device performance enhancement by tensile strain generation. Flash anneal (fRTP) at 1200oC and impulse spike anneal (iRTP) at 1000oC and 1050oC were used as annealing conditions. Micro-Raman characterization of cluster C-implanted Si was done before and after various rapid thermal annealing (RTA) techniques and conditions under various excitation wavelengths for virtual depth profiling of Si stress. As-implanted Si wafers showed almost no Raman signal due to the crystalline lattice damage from high dose cluster ion beam implantation. After RTA of the implanted Si wafers under different techniques and conditions, significant broadening and shift of Raman peaks, towards the lower wavenumber side, was measured, indicating the presence of tensile strain and crystallinity alterations. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) depth profiling and sheet resistance measurement results were compared with multiwavelength micro-Raman characterization results.