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Effect of excimer laser annealing on the structural properties of silicon germanium films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2004

Sherif Sedky ,
Jeremy Schroeder ,
Timothy Sands ,
Tsu-Jae King  and
Roger T. Howe
Sherif Sedky*
Affiliation:
Physics Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo 11511, Egypt
Jeremy Schroeder
Affiliation:
School of Materials Engineering & School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Timothy Sands
Affiliation:
School of Materials Engineering & School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Tsu-Jae King
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Roger T. Howe
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author.e-mail: sedky@aucegypt.edu
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Abstract

We investigated the use of a pulsed excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm, a pulse duration of 38 ns, and an average fluence between 120 and 780 mJ/cm2 to locally tailor the physical properties of Si1−xGex (18% < x < 90%) films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition at temperatures between 400 and 450 °C. Amorphous as-deposited films showed, after laser annealing, strong {111} texture, a columnar grain microstructure, and an average resistivity of 0.7 mΩ cm. Atomic force microscopy indicated that the first few laser pulses resulted in a noticeable reduction in surface roughness, proportional to the pulse energy. However, a large number of successive pulses dramatically increased the surface roughness. The maximum thermal penetration depth of the laser pulse is demonstrated to depend on the fluence and the film structure being either polycrystalline or amorphous. Finally, a comparison between excimer laser annealing and metal-induced crystallization and rapid thermal annealing is presented.

Keywords

Grain growthSemiconductorMicrostructure
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 19 , Issue 12 , December 2004 , pp. 3503 - 3511
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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