Understanding the microwave annealing of silicon

Articles you may be interested in Influence of thickness on crystallinity in wafer-scale GaTe nanolayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy Pressure induced self-doping and dependence of critical temperature in stoichiometry YBa2Cu3O6.95 predicted by first-principle and BVS calculations Kinetics of the permanent deactivation of the boron-oxygen complex in crystalline silicon as a function of illumination intensity Though microwave annealing appears to be very appealing due to its unique features, lacking an in-depth understanding and accurate model hinder its application in semiconductor processing. In this paper, the physics-based model and accurate calculation for the microwave annealing of silicon are presented. Both thermal effects, including ohmic conduction loss and dielectric polarization loss, and non-thermal effects are thoroughly analyzed. We designed unique experiments to verify the mechanism and extract relevant parameters. We also explicitly illustrate the dynamic interaction processes of the microwave annealing of silicon. This work provides an in-depth understanding that can expedite the application of microwave annealing in semiconductor processing and open the door to implementing microwave annealing for future research and applications. © 2017 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license