Microscopy of Thin Si Films During Lamp Zone Melting

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe melting and solidification fronts of thin Silicon On Insulator (SOI) films have been observed in-situ. The melting front does not advance continuously but by bursts. This so called “explosive melting” allows to explain the appearance of defects (such as voids and surface roughness) observed in the recrystallized film. The freezing front is observed in the case where a pattern for the entrainment of the defects has been etched in the underlying oxide: we show that the entrainment effect is due to the spatial modulation of the solidification front by the structure. Furthermore, the scan speed influences the morphology of the liquid/solid interface and the defect entrainment efficiency.