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Amorphous Silicon Laser Quenched from the Melt - Preparation & Characterization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

A.G. Cullis ,
H.C. Webber  and
N.G. Chew
A.G. Cullis
Affiliation:
Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, England
H.C. Webber
Affiliation:
Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, St. Andrews Road, Malvern, England
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Abstract

Short (2.5nsec) pulses of ultra-violet radiation from a Q-switched laser system have been used to induce a range of defect transitions in the surface regions of (001) and (111) Si single crystal by transient melting and resolidification. Relatively large areas of Si have been uniformly processed and this has enabled the measurement of thresholds for both amorphization and extended defect production. The highest quench rates (isotherm velocities of ∼20m/sec) were achieved at the surface melting threshold near 0.2J/cm2 and both (001) and (111) Si could be amorphized with radiation energy densities close to this value. With increasing energy density the quench rate fell and (001) Si ceased to amorphize before (111) Si. Furthermore, over a range of high radiation fluxes the crystalline Si produced on (111) surfaces was highly defective and contained twins due to errors in liquid-phase epitaxy. The various observed structure transitions have been related to the predictions of crystal growth theory with account taken of melt undercooling effects. The amorphous Si produced during this work (up to almost 1000Å thickness) has been shown to be structurally similar to that produced by conventional methods. Both direct analysis and solid-phase regrowth experiments have demonstrated that its impurity content is negligible.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 4: Symposium A – Laser and Electron-Beam Interactions with Solids , 1981 , 131
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1982

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References

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