Flash-lamp annealing of semiconductor materials - Applications and process models

Flash-lamp annealing (FLA) oil a millisecond time scale has been shown to be a promising tool in the preparation of high-quality semiconducting materials. The process imposes time varying through-thickness temperature profiles on the substrates being processed, and consequently thermal stresses. A combined thermal and optical model has been developed to predict the substrate temperature distribution and this model has been linked to a structural Model to compute stresses and deflections The paper shows how these models can be used to explore process conditions in flash lamp annealing; with particular regard to the annealing of ion implants in silicon and the crystallization of amorphous silicon layers on glass substrates.