EPITAXY OF SILICON-CARBON SUBSTITUTIONAL SOLID SOLUTIONS BY ULTRA-FAST ANNEALING OF AMORPHOUS MATERIAL

摘要

Expitaxial substitutional solid solutions of silicon carbon (101 ) can be obtained by an ultra-fast anneal of an amorphous carbon-containing silicon material. The anneal is performed at a temperature above the recrystallization point, but below the melting point of the material and preferably lasts for less than 100 milliseconds in this temperature regime. The anneal is preferably a flash anneal or laser anneal. This approach is able to produce epitaxial silicon and carbon-containing materials (101 ) with a substantial portion of the carbon atoms at substitutional lattice positions. The approach is especially useful in CMOS processes and other electronic device manufacture where the presence of epitaxial Si1-yCy, y0.1 is desired for strain engineering or bandgap engineering.