Time-resolved optical studies of oxide-encapsulated silicon during pulsed laser melting

1988 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Jellison ◽  
D. H. Lowndes ◽  
J. W. Sharp

Nanosecond time-resolved reflectivity and ellipsometry experiments have been performed on (100) Si wafers encapsulated by 5.5–76.2 nm thick thermal oxides, using pulsed KrF (248 nm) laser energy densities sufficient to melt the Si beneath the oxide. Post-irradiation nulling ellipsometry, optical microphotography, and surface profiling measurements were carried out. It was found that the threshold energy density required to melt the Si varies with oxide thickness; this is explained primarily by the reflective properties of the oxide overlayer. The time-resolved reflectivity and ellipsometry measurements show that rippling of the SiO2 layer occurs on the 20–40 ns timescale and results in a decrease in specular reflectivity of the rippled silicon surface beneath. Optical model calculations suggest that pulsed laser annealing through a thick oxide layer results in a damaged near-surface silicon layer (∼ 30 nm thick); this layer contains defects that are probably responsible for the degraded performance of devices.

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Larson ◽  
C. W. White ◽  
T. S. Noggle ◽  
J. F. Barhorst ◽  
D. Mills

ABSTRACTSynchrotron x-ray pulses have been used to make nanosecond resolution time-resolved x-ray diffraction measurements on silicon during pulsed laser annealing. Thermal expansion analysis of near-surface strains during annealing has provided depth dependent temperature profiles indicating >1100°C temperatures and diffraction from boron implanted silicon has shown evidence for near-surface melting. These results are in qualitative agreement with the thermal melting model of laser annealing.


1981 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas H. Lowndes ◽  
G. E. Jellison ◽  
R. F. Wood

ABSTRACTThe time resolved optical transmission, T (atλ = 1152 nm), and reflectivity, R (at 633 nm and 1152 nm), have been measured for n-type single crystalline silicon (c-Si) during and immediately after pulsed ruby laser irradiation (λ = 693 nm, FWHM pulse duration 14 nsec), for a range of pulsed laser energy densities, El. The T is found to go to zero, and to remain at zero, for a period of time that increases with increasing El, in apparent disagreement with earlier measurements elsewhere that used semi-insulating Si and a different pulsed laser wavelength. Measured reflectivities during the high R phase agree within experimental error with reflectivities calculated from the optical constants of molten Si. Quantitative agreement is also found between both our T and R measurements and detailed time– and El-dependent results of thermal melting model calculations.


1983 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Larson ◽  
C. W. White ◽  
T. S. Noggle ◽  
J. F. Barhorst ◽  
D. M. Mills

ABSTRACTNear surface temperatures and temperature gradients have been studied in silicon during pulsed laser annealing. The investigation was carried out using nanosecond resolution x-ray diffraction measurements made at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source. Thermal-induced-strain analyses of these real-time, extended Bragg scattering measurements have shown that the lattice temperature reached the melting point during 15 ns, 1.1–1.5 J/cm2 ruby laser pulses and that the temperature of the liquid-solid interface remained at that temperature throughout the high reflectivity phase, after which time the surface temperature subsided rapidly. The temperature gradients below the liquid-solid interface were found to be in the range of 107°C/cm.


1984 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.H. Lowndes ◽  
G.E. Jellison ◽  
R.F. Wood ◽  
S.J. Pennycook ◽  
R.W. Carpenter

ABSTRACTA KrF (248 nm) pulsed laser was used to melt 90-, 190-, and 440-nm thick amorphous silicon layers produced by Si ion implantation into (100) crystalline Si substrates. Time-resolved reflectivity measurements at two different probe wavelengths (633 nm and 1.15 μm) and post-irradiation TEM measurements were used to study the formation of an undercooled liquid Si phase and the subsequent solidification processes. The time-resolved measurements provide new experimental information about the nucleation of fine-grained Si crystallites in undercooled liquid Si, at low laser energy densities (Eℓ), and about the growth of large-grained Si in the near-surface region at higher Eℓ. Measurements with the infrared probe beam reveal the presence of a buried, propagating liquid layer at low ??. Model calculations indicate that this liquid layer is generated in part by the release of latent heat associated with the nucleation and growth process.


1981 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas H. Lowndes ◽  
Bernard J. Feldman

ABSTRACTIn an effort to understand the origin of defects earlier found to be present in p–n junctions formed by pulsed laser annealing (PLA) of ion implanted (II) semiconducting GaAs, photoluminescence (PL) studies have been carried out. PL spectra have been obtained at 4K, 77K and 300K, for both n–and p–type GaAs, for laser energy densities 0 ≤ El ≤ 0.6 J/cm2. It is found that PLA of crystalline (c−) GaAs alters the PL spectrum and decreases the PL intensity, corresponding to an increase in density of non-radiative recombination centers with increasing El. The variation of PL intensity with El is found to be different for n– and p–type material. No PL is observed from high dose (1 or 5×1015 ions/cm2 ) Sior Zn-implanted GaAs, either before or after laser annealing. The results suggest that the ion implantation step is primarily responsible for formation of defects associated with the loss of radiative recombination, with pulsed annealing contributing only secondarily.


Author(s):  
Guihua Lai ◽  
Siyuan Geng ◽  
Hanwen Zheng ◽  
Zhifeng Yao ◽  
Qiang Zhong ◽  
...  

Abstract The objective of this paper is to observe and investigate the early evolution of the shock wave, induced by a nanosecond pulsed laser in still water. A numerical method is performed to calculate the propagation of the shock wave within 1µs, after optical breakdown, based on the Gilmore model and the Kirkwood-Bethe hypothesis. The input parameters of the numerical method include the laser pulse duration, the size of the plasma and the maximally extended cavitation bubble, which are measured utilizing a high time-resolved shadowgraph system. The calculation results are verified by shock wave observation experiments at the cavitation bubble expansion stage. The relative errors of the radiuses and the velocity of the shock wave front, reach the maximum value of 45% at 5 ns after breakdown and decrease to less than 20% within 20 ns. The high attenuation characteristics of the shock wave after the optical breakdown, are predicted by the numerical method. The quick time and space evolution of the shock wave are carefully analyzed. The normalized shock wave width is found to be independent of the laser energy and duration, and the energy partitions ratio is around 2.0 using the nanosecond pulsed laser.


1983 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Lowndes ◽  
R. F. Wood ◽  
C. W. White ◽  
J. Narayan

ABSTRACTMeasurements of the time of the onset of melting of self-implantation amorphized (a) Si, during an incident laser pulse, have been combined with modified melting model calculations and measurements of surface melt duration to demonstrate that the thermal conductivity, Ka, of a-Si is very low (≃0.02 W/cm-K). Ka is also shown to be the dominant parameter determining the dynamical response of ionimplanted Si to pulsed laser radiation; the latent heat and melting temperature of a-Si are relatively unimportant. Cross-sectional transmission electron micrographs on implantation-amorphized Si layers of several different thicknesses show that for energy densities less than the threshold value for complete annealing there are usually two distinct regions in the re-solidified a-Si, consisting of fine-grained and large-grained polycrystalline Si, respectively. The presence of the fine-grained poly-Si suggests that bulk nucleation occurs directly from the highly undercooled liquid phase. Thermal melting model calculations suggest that the nucleation temperature, Tn is ≃1200°C.


1985 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Jellison ◽  
D. H. Lowndes ◽  
D. N. Mashburn ◽  
R. F. Wood

ABSTRACTTime-resolved reflectivity measurements of silicon and germanium have been made during pulsed KrF excimer laser irradiation. The reflectivity was measured simultaneously at both 1152 and 632.8 nm wavelengths, and the energy density of each laser pulse was monitored. The melt duration and the time of the onset of melting were measured and compared with the results of melting model calculations. For energy densities just above the melting threshold, it was found that the melt duration was never less than 20 ns for Si and 25 ns for Ge, while the maximum reflectivity increased from the value of the hot solid to that of the liquid over a finite energy range. These results, along with a reinterpretation of earlier time-resolved ellipsometry measurements, indicate that, during the melt-in process, the near-surface region does not melt homogeneously, but rather consists of a mixture of solid and liquid phases. The reflectivity at the onset of melting and in the liquid phase have been measured at both 632.8 and 1152 nm, and are compared with the results found in the literature.


Carbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 167 ◽  
pp. 504-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Yoshinaka ◽  
Seiko Inubushi ◽  
Takanori Wakita ◽  
Takayoshi Yokoya ◽  
Yuji Muraoka

1986 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Perepezko ◽  
D. M. Follstaedt ◽  
P. S. Peercy

AbstractPulsed laser melting of the low-temperature σ (tetragonal, D8b) phase has been used to generate a liquid undercooled with respect to the melting point of the higher-temperature, equilibrium α (bcc) solid solution in equiatomic Fe-V alloys. From calculations based on reported thermodynamic data and equilibrium transformation temperatures, the metastable melting point of the σ phase is about 1720 K for an Fe-50 at.% V alloy, which is 54 K below the melting temperature of the α phase. During rapid heating of well-annealed σ-phase material with a 30 ns laser pulse to above melt threshold, the σ → α reaction is suppressed, so that the melt zone is undercooled by ∼ 54 K with respect to the equilibrium α phase. The α phase nucleates from the undercooled molten surface layer and is retained during the subsequent rapid cooling (∼ 1010 K/s) because of the relatively sluggish α → σ transformation. X-ray diffraction (Read camera) and TEM identified the α phase in the near-surface after melting σ with incident laser energies (1.0–1.41 J/cm2) which are well above the melt threshold as determined by changes in reflectivity (∼ 0.7 J/cm2). The α phase nucleated from the undercooled liquid within ∼ 20 ns.


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