Explosive crystallization (EC) is often observed when using nanosecond-pulsed melt laser annealing (MLA) in amorphous silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge). The solidification velocity in EC is so fast that a diffusion-less crystallization can be expected.In the contacts of advanced transistors, the active level at the metal/semiconductor Schottky interface must be very high to achieve a sub-10 -9 ohm.cm 2 contact resistivity, which has been already demonstrated by using the dopant surface segregation induced by MLA. However, the beneficial layer of a few nanometers at the surface may be easily consumed during subsequent contact cleaning and metallization. EC helps to address such kind of process integration issues, enabling the optimal positioning of the peak of the dopant chemical profile. However, there is a lack of experimental studies of EC in heavily-doped semiconductor materials. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, dopant activation by EC has never been experimentally reported. In this paper, we present dopant redistribution and activation by an EC process induced by UV nanosecond-pulsed MLA in heavily gallium (Ga) ion-implanted high Ge content SiGe. Based on the obtained results, we also highlight potential issues of integrating EC into real device fabrication processes and discuss how to manage them.

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Removal of SiARC containing photo resist stacks presents significant challenges to conventional plasma dry strip tools. Due to the high Si content (35-45% Si), the SiARC removal process must typically be done with a combination of dry and wet processes or done entirely in an etcher. As both the Dry-Wet-Dry and the Etcher approach to SiARC stack removal are long and high cost processes, a single chamber, dry-only solution to SiARC stack removal is highly desirable. This paper reports the dry strip process developed at Axcelis Technologies, Inc. to remove the SiARC stack layer by layer which results in a residue free oxide substrate.

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