A review of thermal processing in the subsecond range: semiconductors and beyond

Abstract

Thermal processing in the subsecond range comprises modern, non-equilibrium annealing techniques which allow various material modifications at the surface without affecting the bulk. Flash lamp annealing (FLA) is one of the most diverse methods for short-time annealing with applications ranging from the classical field of semiconductor doping to the treatment of polymers and flexible substrates. It still continues to extend its use to other material classes and applications, and is becoming of interest for an increasing number of users. In this review we present a short, but comprehensive and consistent picture of the current state-of-the-art of FLA, sometimes also called pulsed light sintering. In the first part we take a closer look at the physical and technological background, namely the electrical and optical specifications of flash lamps, the resulting temperature profiles, and the corresponding implications for process-relevant parameters such as reproducibility and homogeneity. The second part briefly considers the various applications of FLA, starting with the classical task of defect minimization and ultrashallow junction formation in Si, followed by further applications in Si technology, namely in the fields of hyperdoping, crystallization of thin amorphous films, and photovoltaics. Subsequent chapters cover the topics of doping and crystallization in Ge and silicon carbide, doping of III-V semiconductors, diluted magnetic semiconductors, III-V nanocluster synthesis in Si, annealing of transparent conductive oxides and high-k materials, nanoclusters in dielectric matrices, and the use of FLA for flexible substrates.

Technological strategies for self-assembly of PS-b-PDMS in cylindrical sub-10 nm nanostructures for lithographic applications

“…a semiconductor equipment quite similar to RTP. FLA allows the samples to be heated to the annealing temperature in milliseconds, that is with heating rates comparable to LSA, using Xe lamps [90]. Although, the use of FLA to achieve the SA of BCPs has not yet demonstrated, FLA could represent an interesting development of the RTP-based process.…”

Oxygen Exchange Kinetics of SrTiO3 Single Crystals: A Non‐Destructive, Quantitative Method

“…The ion implantation was performed at the Ion Beam Centre (IBC) of the Helmholtz‐Zentrum Dresden‐Rossendorf, Germany. One of the Ni ion implanted samples was treated with a 20 ms FLA pulse at the energy of 84 J cm −2 in order to recrystallize the distorted structure and activate the ion implants …”

“…One of the Ni ion implanted samples was treated with a 20 ms FLA pulse at the energy of 84 J cm −2 in order to recrystallize the distorted structure and activate the ion implants. [37,38]…”

“…In addition, an annealing of SrTiO 3 crystals in a controlled manner leads to a variety of epitaxial layer growth processes and changes in surface morphology . Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA) allows the restriction of those changes to a near surface region and leaves the single crystal's bulk unchanged. In this paper, ion implantation and subsequent FLA are introduced as a possible way to increase the effective rate constant for oxygen exchange of SrTiO 3 .…”

Fabrication of p-ZnO:Na/n-ZnO:Na homojunction by surface pulsed laser irradiation

“…In recent years, laser irradiation (LI), also called laser annealing (LA), has received much research interest in formation of ultrashallow junctions essential in semiconductor technology. [4][5][6][7] LI typically melts the surface region of the implanted substrate and causes the dopant to be distributed uniformly, 6,8 and there is a high concentration of dopant incorporation, exceeding the solid solubility because of solute trapping 9,10 under the highly nonequilibrium recrystallization process. Currently, however, the LI technique is used only as an annealing process; it has not been used as a fabrication method of semiconductor p-n junctions.…”