Comprehensive Analysis of Phosphorus-Doped Silicon Annealed by Continuous-Wave Laser Beam at High Scan Speed

Abstract

We report an in-depth analysis of phosphorus (P)-doped silicon (Si) with a continuous-wave laser source using a high scan speed to increase the performance of semiconductor devices. We systematically characterized the P-doped Si annealed at different laser powers using four-point probe resistance measurement, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), secondary-ion mass spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Notably, a significant reduction in sheet resistance was observed after laser annealing, which indicated the improved electrical properties of Si. TEM images confirmed the epitaxial growth of Si in an upward direction without a polycrystalline structure. Furthermore, we observed the activation of P without diffusion, irrespective of the laser power in the secondary-ion mass-spectrometry characterization. We detected negligible changes in lattice spacing for the main (400) XRD peak, showing an insignificant effect of the laser annealing on the strain. AFM images of the annealed samples in comparison with those of the as-implanted sample showed that the laser annealing did not significantly change the surface roughness. This study provides an excellent heating method with high potential to achieve an extremely low sheet resistance without diffusion of the dopant under a very high scan speed for industrial applications.