An examination of athermal photonic effects on boron diffusion and activation during microwave rapid thermal...

This work examines the role of 672 nm optical illumination on the diffusion and activation of B in Si as a function of various factors. The factors studied include length of anneal, maximum temperature of anneal, type of co-implanted and pre-amorphizing species and ambient oxygen concentration. The anneal conditions fell into one of three categories: (1) high-temperature (> 900 degrees C) spike and 10-second anneals; (2) low temperature (550 degrees C) 30-minute anneals; and (3) room-temperature long-term "anneals". Implanted species included BF2 implants, pre-amorphized B-only implants, and pre-amorphized BF2 implants. Finally, the ambient oxygen concentration was varied from atmospheric pressure to 100 ppm. The results show that illumination: (1) affects the diffusion of B on spike anneal time frames; (2) has limited effect on diffusion over 10-second time frames; and (3) fails to enhance the activation of B during low-temperature solid phase epitaxy and at room temperature. Additionally, illumination has no effect on B-diffusion when oxygen is present in ambient concentrations but does show an effect when the presence of oxygen is restricted. Finally, the presence of F affects both the net diffusion of B in Si and the relative effect of illumination on the diffusion of B.