Amorphous-crystalline transition of arsenic-implanted silicon caused by multiple-pulsed ruby laser

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 1979-06, Vol.50 (6), p.4388-4390
• Main Authors: Gibbons, J. F., Regolini, J. L., Lietoila, A., Sigmon, T. W., Magee, T. J., Peng, J., Hong, J. D., Katz, W., Evans, C. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.326426

A free-running ruby laser has been used to anneal the damage produced when 3×1014 As/cm2 is implanted at 100 keV into Si initially at room temperature. At an on-target energy level of 15–30 J/cm2 and a pulse length of ∼1 ms it is found that 32 pulses are sufficient to recrystallize the implanted layer. It is found that localized (1–5 μm) islands recrystallize completely through the amorphous/crystalline layer allowing a certain areal portion of the latter to be recrystallized on the substrate for each pulse. This localized recrystallization appears to arise from melting in these regions caused by the nonuniform energy density of the laser beam. By operation of the laser in this mode the creation of damage (craters) often seen when using high-power Q-switched pulses can be avoided. TEM, SIMS, RBS, and electrical measurement are used to support these conclusions.