Kinetics of the end of range damage dissolution in flash-assist rapid thermal processing

This study investigates the effectiveness of flash-assist rapid thermal processing in dissolving the end of range damage inherent to preamorphizing implants. A series of silicon wafers is preamorphized with a Ge implant and subsequently implanted with B. The wafers are then subjected to a flash anneal, a rapid thermal anneal, or both annealing processes. The flash anneal results in higher defect densities and trapped interstitials than the rapid thermal anneal. Defect dissolution has been previously reported to have an activation energy between 4 and 5 eV. This work demonstrates that the defect dissolution during flash-assist rapid thermal processing is mediated by a 2.2±0.05 eV activation energy. © 2006 American Institute of Physics. #DOI: 10.1063/1.2201043$