Raman spectroscopy is a powerful and versatile technique for stress measurements in complex stacks of thin crystalline layers at macroscopic and microscopic scales. Using such a technique we show that thick SiGe layers epitaxially grown using graded buffer method are fully relaxed (>95%) at a macroscopic scale but exhibit a small strain modulation at a microscopic scale. For the first time we report the results of Raman micro-mapping of stress distribution in SGOI wafers produced by Smart Cut™ technology. We conclude that Smart Cut™ is a unique method to manufacture the next generation of engineered wafers that can combine strained and/or relaxed SiGe alloys, Si and Ge films, while keeping their initial strain properties at both scales. It is important to develop Raman spectroscopy tool for in-line process control in fabrication of strained Silicon On Insulator (sSOI) wafers.

The method of ion implantation and spike annealing for preparing shallow junctions suitable for the extension regions bridging the channel and source/drain contacts of CMOS transistors are studied by annealing blanket implants. Junction depths at a given sheet resistance for low energy B implants are minimized for the combination of a fast ramp with a sharp-spike anneal. This is shown to be physically based on activation energy phenomenology. The fraction of electrically activated B is insensitive to implant dose, unlike the case of transient enhanced diffusion. Arsenic implants show higher activation fraction than comparably annealed P implants, without the large transient enhanced diffusion which is attributed to P and Si-interstitial coupled diffusion. For targeted sheet resistance and junction depth, spiking temperature trends lower with implant dose, concomitant with decreasing fraction of activated dopant.

Amorphous silicon films with B, P, and As implants were activated with thermal anneals that include spiking to the maximum temperature. Films were grown over thermal oxide by chemical vapor deposition as two separately implanted 50-nm layers for manipulating dopant placement and diffusion. Electrical activation was determined by Hall van der Pauw and MOS C-V, and dopant diffusion was profiled by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). Flat-band voltage was used to benchmark relative thermal budgets for p-type poly. Temperature-time relationships are used to deduce effective activation energies.

Boron was implanted into n-type Si at energies from 500 eV to 1 keV and doses near 1 E14 cm-2and 1E51 cm−2. Electrical activation was achieved by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in nominally pure N−2and 0.1% 02 with the fastest available heating rates of up to 150 °C/s, cooling rates up to 80 °C/s, and included “spike” anneals with minimum dwell time at peak temperature. Measurements of sheet resistance, Hall coefficient, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy profiling were used to determine dopant activation and diffusion. Surface oxidation was studied by film thickness ellipsometry. Analyses of electrical transport measurements are used to relate junction depths to sheet resistance and their dependence on annealing temperature and time. For spike annealing, junction leakage and adequate activation limits the minimum practical temperature while diffusion limits the maximum practical temperature for formation of shallow junctions.

Ni foils and samples consisting of bilayers of Ni or Fe on Al, Ti or Si were implanted at room temperature with 15N+ ions to fluences of around 1×l017 N/cm2. The concentration depth profiles of 15N were determined with nuclear reaction analysis before and after vacuum annealing. It was found that the penetrability for N atoms of the surface and the solid/solid interface plays an important role in the N redistribution during implantation or annealing. The formation of a nitride layer or nitride clusters in Ni and Fe was deduced. Parameters for N migration determined for the metals under investigation are discussed in terms of models.

Ion implantation of lead or indium into aluminium results in spontaneous phase separation and formation of lead or indium precipitates. The precipitates grow in topotactical alignment with the matrix, giving TEM images characterized by moiré fringes. The size and density of the precipitates increase with increasing fluence until coalescence begins to occur. Implantations at elevated temperatures lead to formation of larger precipitates with well developed facets. This is particularly significant for implantations above the bulk melting point of the implanted species. Melting and solidification have been followed by in-situ TEM heating and cooling experiments. Superheating up to ∼ 50 K above the bulk melting point has been observed, and the largest inclusions melt first. Melting is associated with only partial loss of facetting of the largest inclusions. Initial growth of the inclusions occurs by trapping of atoms retained in supersaturated solution. Further growth occurs by coalescence of neighbouring inclusions in the liquid phase. Solidification is accompanied by a strong undercooling ∼ 30 K below the bulk melting point, where the smallest inclusions solidify first. Solidification is characterized by spontaneous restoration of the facets and the topotactical alignment.