Sb-Te alloy films are developed as rewritable optical recording materials based on amorphous-crystalline phase transformations. Sb2 Te3 is shown to be the best practical phase change medium.

Simultaneous CW laser assisted crystallization and diffusion for fabricating NMOS transistors on Si/SiO2/PLZT is presented. Hall effect measurement (mobility 74cm2V−1sec×1019cm−3 of phosphorus dopping), crystal delineation (grain size 50×30μm) and Raman spectroscopy (stress 6.0×109dynescm−2) indicated that good quality doped silicon crystal film can be produced with this method. NMOS transistors fabricated by this technology show good performances such as high breakdown voltage (45 V), small leakage current (2 nA/μm), reasonable channel carrier mobility (140cm2V−1−1) and photosensitivity (1.5 A/W).

The kinetics of damage removal, metastable carrier concentration relaxation and secondary defect evolution in As+-implanted and rapidly annealed silicon was studied m detail. It was found that these processes are characterized by different activation energies. There is a critical temperature Tc for RTA. Only when the annealing temperature is higher than Tc, with suitable time duration can the RTA advantages be fully exloited.

We have studied in some detail the activation of implanted Si and Mg ions in InAs, GaSb and GaP after rapid thermal annealing. Even at doses of 1015 cm−2, the activation percentage of Mg is relatively high after optimum anneals -80% in GaP, 55% in GaSb and 45% in InAs. There is considerable outdiffusion of Mg in all three semiconductors for extended heat treatments. The amphoteric species Si shows good activation (60% for 1015 cm−2 dose) in InAs, a saturation electrically active concentration of ∼3 × 1013 cm−2 in GaP, and very low electrical activity in GaSb. The regrowth and damage removal characteristics in the three materials are similar to those of GaAs and InP.

The effects of the implantation parameters (dose and energy) on the Arsenic redistribution and outdiffusion rate in (100) p-type silicon, after 7–12 s Rapid Thermal Annealing in the 1100–1200°C temperature range have been investigated. Four doses ranging from 2×1014 to l×1016 cm−2, and As+ energies between 70 and 170 keV, have been studied. The experimental diffusion profiles obtained from the SIMS measurements, in complement with the RBS results, were modelled using the one dimensional Fick's equation with semi-infinite boundary conditions, using a concentration and temperature dependent diffusion coefficient D(C, T). The As diffusivity was classically attributed to As+V0, As+V−, and As+V − pairs with the related diffusion coefficients taken from the literature. A relatively good description of the As redistribution was obtained without introducing any transient or SPE effects.

Secondary ion mass spectroscopy has been used to study the effects of rapid thermal processing on the formation of tetragonal tungsten disilicide thin films on Si(100), p-type 5 Omaga;, cm wafers. The substrates were chemically etched, followed by an RF sputter depostion of 710Å W metal. The samples were then fast radiatively processed in an RTP system for time intervals ranging from 15 to 45 seconds at high temperature (∼1100°C) under high vacuum.

The redistribution of the boron dopant concentration profile is studied and shows that boron moves from the Si-substrate into the growing Wsi2 film, eventually escaping into the vacuum. Oxygen is the major impurity in these samples and its removal from the interface has been shown to improve the quality of the silicide film. Trace quantities of F, Cl, Na, K, C and Cr have also been detected.

Rapid thermal annealing of amorphous tungsten silicide thin films (W0.62 Si0 38) on Si at 1100°C in Ar and N2 ambient gases was studied. All films annealed in N2 exhibited good adhesion and remained smooth with no large grain growth. Films annealed in Ar showed grain nucleation and growth from the film perimeter until a critical stress was achieved, followed by stress-assisted grain growth. The resulting growth of large columnar grains caused the films to delaminate. Removal of the surface oxide/nitride layer from the silicide prior to annealing resulted in uniform nucleation and growth over the entire film during annealing in Ar, with no stress-assisted grain growth or film delamination. No difference, however, was observed during annealing in N2. These results suggest that a surface film produced during annealing in N2 slows the nucleation and growth and consequently enhances film adhesion.

Ion implantation has been used to modify the initial stress in thin (40 nm) SiO2 films on G a As, and to condition the SiO2-G a As interface to pro mote adhesion. The effectiveness of these implanted films as caps to suppress decomposition of GaAs during rapid thermal processing has been studied, and this provides an indicator of the mechanical stability of the films. Measurements of the initial film stress, as well as stress changes caused by implantation and annealing, have been made to help interpret the implantation results. Our results indicate that ion implantation does not have a strong effect on the performance of thin film SiO2 encapsulants on GaAs.

Localized rapid melting of an intermediate Al film in the Ni(30nm)/Al(10nm)/<100>n-Si system was successfully carried out by means of rapid thermal processing at temperatures higher than 580°C. This rapid melting resulted in the formation of a unique metal-silicon contact composed of three separated layers and has the following structure: Ni(Al0.5,Si0.5)/Al3 Ni/NiSi / <100>n-Si. It was found on the basis of quenching treatments after subsequent rapid thermal processings that an eutectic melting initiated at the Al-Si interface at 580°C, propagated towards the Ni layer and then formed a localized melt zone confined mainly to the region of the intermediate Al layer. The formation of the nickel silicides took place at the silicon surface after Ni diffusion through the melt zone, while the Al compounds were formed during a solidification process of the eutectic liquid. The eutectic melting at 580°C led to the decrease of the sheet resistance of the formed films from 3.2 to 2.6 / and to the increase of the Schottky barrier height of the contact from 0.6 to 0.76 eV.

A dual electron beam machine has been used to anneal boron implanted layers in order to study the diffusion and activation behaviour over a wide range of doses. The annealed implants have been characterized by spreading resistance profiling and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). Carrier concentration profiles show that millisecond duration anneals can activate boron implants. A boron dose of 1E16 ions/cm2 was annealed to give a sheet resistance of 30 Ωsq with 40% of the implant activated. The SIMS technique showed there were no significant differences between the atomic profiles of the as-implanted samples and specimens subjected to a millisecond anneal or to a low temperature 850°C rapid isothermal anneal for 10s.

In this paper, a comparative study is presented of different techniques used for the annealing of arsenic ion implants in silicon. The used techniques are: lamp annealing using a bank of tungsten-halogen lamps, CW laser annealing and conventional furnace annealing. The annealing quality of the implanted layers is evaluated in terms of dopant activation, dopant diffusion and final extended defect states. The furnace annealing combines a good electrical dopant activation with nearly complete annihilation of the a/c dislocation loops, but substantial diffusion of the dopant profile is measured. Laser annealing gives good electrical activation with very low diffusion, but fails in removing end-of-range extended defects. Furthermore, latent electrical active defects of a donor-type are created. The tungsten halogen lamp annealing gives comparable activation and the diffusion is still lower than can be resolved by SIMS measurements, while growth and annihilation of the a/c dislocation loops is present but not yet completed. These experiments are in agreement with theoretical comparison of the different annealing techniques based on the effective (T,t) coordinates of each technique, which favours RTA processes in the high temperature - “seconds” -time range.

Following the implantation of arsenic into titanium disilicide films on p type silicon, Rutherford backscattering has shown that rapid thermal vacuum processing (RTVP) causes the arsenic to diffuse toward the silicide/silicon interface, with an accumulation at the interface and with a sharp shallow diffusion into the silicon. The effect of the implant and anneal on the sheet resistance of the silicide and underlying silicon have been investigated’ and it is shown that anneal times of thirty seconds at 900 °C produce acceptable shallow junctions suitable for device type applications without significant deterioration in silicide electrical or physical properties.

Rapid thermal annealing of the electroluminescent phosphors ZnS:Mn, SrS:CeF3 and ZnS:SmCl3 has been examined as a function of annealing temperature (500–750°C) and time of exposure (10–120 sec.). The resulting brightness and efficiency of luminescence are correlated with the different processing conditions used. The results indicate that the brightness can be significantly improved from the value obtained with furnace annealing without causing film delamination, blistering or fatigue effect.

Residual water vapour present in the vacuum system has been observed to play a dominant oxidising role in the 250 keV D+ induced radiolysis of polyimide (Kapton-H). The partial pressure (pp) of water in the vacuum system decreases sharply as the D+ beam impinges the polymeric surface, but soon after, it recovers to its initial value as the accumulated dose increases. Emission of CO2 is observed which has its maximum at a time when the H2O partial pressure is at a minimum. The CO2 level also returns to its original level with time. This complementary variation of CO2 and H2O confirms that absorbed and adsorbed water molecules are radiolysed by the ion beam and initiate oxidation of the radiolytically evolved CO to yield CO2 on and within the ion implanted surface of the polyimide. Further, the small enhancement in the 28 amu peak (N2 + CO), which exhibits no maximum/minimum over the entire implantation time, can be understood in terms of the evolution of N2 from the imide ring as a result of radiolysis of this nitrogen containing polymers.