Applied Physics A

, Volume 114, Issue 4, pp 1009–1016 | Cite as

Improving dopant incorporation during femtosecond-laser doping of Si with a Se thin-film dopant precursor

  • Matthew J. Smith
  • Meng-Ju Sher
  • Benjamin Franta
  • Yu-Ting Lin
  • Eric Mazur
  • Silvija Gradečak
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

We study the dopant incorporation processes during thin-film fs-laser doping of Si and tailor the dopant distribution through optimization of the fs-laser irradiation conditions. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and profilometry are used to study the interrelated dopant incorporation and surface texturing mechanisms during fs-laser irradiation of Si coated with a Se thin-film dopant precursor. We show that the crystallization of Se-doped Si and micrometer-scale surface texturing are closely coupled and produce a doped surface that is not conducive to device fabrication. Next, we use this understanding of the dopant incorporation process to decouple dopant crystallization from surface texturing by tailoring the irradiation conditions. A low-fluence regime is identified in which a continuous surface layer of doped crystalline material forms in parallel with laser-induced periodic surface structures over many laser pulses. This investigation demonstrates the ability to tailor the dopant distribution through a systematic investigation of the relationship between fs-laser irradiation conditions, microstructure, and dopant distribution.

Keywords

Surface Texture Chalcogen Single Laser Pulse Dopant Distribution Solid Phase Epitaxy 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge valuable discussions with Kasey Phillips. This work was supported by the Chesonis Family Foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) ERC-QESST (EEC-1041895), and NSF awards CBET 0754227 and CHE-DMR-DMS 0934480. This research was also made with additional support through the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, 32 CFR 168a, and the R.J. McElroy Trust. We acknowledge valuable use of MIT CMSE Shared Experimental Facilities, under MIT NSF MRSEC grant # DMR-08-19762, and the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which is supported by NSF Award No. ECS-0335765.

Supplementary material

339_2013_7673_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (117 kb)
(PDF 117 kB)

References

  1. 1.
    S.H. Pan, D. Recht, S. Charnvanichborikarn, J.S. Williams, M.J. Aziz, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 121913 (2011) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    C.H. Crouch, J.E. Carey, M. Shen, E. Mazur, F.Y. Génin, Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 79, 1635 (2004) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    J.E. Carey, C.H. Crouch, M. Shen, E. Mazur, Opt. Lett. 30, 1773 (2005) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    A.J. Said, D. Recht, J.T. Sullivan, J.M. Warrender, T. Buonassisi, P.D. Persans, M.J. Aziz, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 073503 (2011) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    S. Hu, P. Han, S. Wang, X. Mao, X. Li, L. Gao, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 27, 102002 (2012) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    A. Luque, A. Martí, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 5014 (1997) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    M.A. Sheehy, B.R. Tull, C.M. Friend, E. Mazur, Mater. Sci. Eng. B, Solid-State Mater. Adv. Technol. 137, 289 (2007) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    M.J. Sher, M.T. Winkler, E. Mazur, Mater. Res. Soc. Bull. 36, 439 (2011) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    B.R. Tull, M.T. Winkler, E. Mazur, Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 96, 327 (2009) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    M.T. Winkler, M.J. Sher, Y.T. Lin, M.J. Smith, H. Zhang, S. Gradečak, E. Mazur, J. Appl. Phys. 111, 093511 (2012) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    V. Zorba, I. Alexandrou, I. Zergioti, A. Manousaki, C. Ducati, A. Neumeister, C. Fotakis, G.A.J. Amaratunga, Thin Solid Films 453–454, 492 (2004) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    M.J. Smith, M.T. Winkler, M.J. Sher, Y.T. Lin, E. Mazur, S. Gradečak, Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 105, 795 (2011) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    S. Hu, P. Han, S. Wang, X. Mao, X. Li, L. Gao, Phys. Status Solidi A 209, 2521 (2012) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    B.P. Bob, A. Kohno, S. Charnvanichborikarn, J.M. Warrender, I. Umezu, M. Tabbal, J.S. Williams, M.J. Aziz, J. Appl. Phys. 107, 123506 (2010) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    T.G. Kim, J.M. Warrender, M.J. Aziz, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 3 (2006) Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    M. Tabbal, T.G. Kim, D.N. Woolf, B. Shin, M.J. Aziz, Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 98, 589 (2010) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    A.L. Baumann, K.M. Guenther, P. Saring, T. Gimpel, S. Kontermann, M. Seibt, W. Schade, Energy Procedia 27, 480 (2012) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    S. Kontermann, T. Gimpel, A.L. Baumann, K.M. Guenther, W. Schade, Energy Procedia 27, 390 (2012) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    K. Affolter, W. Luthy, M. Von Allmen, Appl. Phys. Lett. 33, 185 (1978) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    G.E. Jellison Jr., D.H. Lowndes, Appl. Phys. Lett. 51, 352 (1987) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    M. de Selincourt, Proc. Phys. Soc. 52, 348 (1940) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    A. Borowiec, M. MacKenzie, G.C. Weatherly, H.K. Haugen, Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 76, 201 (2003) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    B.R. Tull, J.E. Carey, E. Mazur, J. McDonald, S.M. Yalisove, Mater. Res. Soc. Bull. 31, 7 (2006) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. 24.
    M.J. Smith, Y.T. Lin, M.J. Sher, M.T. Winkler, E. Mazur, S. Gradečak, J. Appl. Phys. 110, 053524 (2011) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    M.J. Smith, M.J. Sher, B. Franta, Y.T. Lin, E. Mazur, S. Gradečak, J. Appl. Phys. 112, 083518 (2012) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    M.J. Aziz, T. Kaplan, Acta Metall. 36, 2335 (1988) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. 27.
    E.P. Fogarassy, D.H. Lowndes, J. Narayan, C.W. White, J. Appl. Phys. 58, 2167 (1985) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. 28.
    G.L. Olson, J.A. Roth, Mater. Sci. Rep. 3, 1 (1988) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. 29.
    J. Bonse, M. Munz, H. Sturm, J. Appl. Phys. 97, 013538 (2005) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. 30.
    Z. Guosheng, P.M. Fauchet, A.E. Siegman, Phys. Rev. B 26, 5366 (1982) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. 31.
    J.E. Sipe, J.F. Young, J.S. Preston, H.M. van Driel, Phys. Rev. B 27, 1141 (1983) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. 32.
    F.J. Lopez, E.R. Hemesath, L.J. Lauhon, Nano Lett. 9, 2774 (2009) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. 33.
    A. Cavalleri, K. Sokolowski-Tinten, J. Bialkowski, M. Schreiner, D. von der Linde, J. Appl. Phys. 85, 3301 (1999) ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Matthew J. Smith
    • 1
  • Meng-Ju Sher
    • 2
  • Benjamin Franta
    • 3
  • Yu-Ting Lin
    • 3
  • Eric Mazur
    • 2
    • 3
  • Silvija Gradečak
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Materials Science and EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUSA
  2. 2.Department of PhysicsHarvard UniversityCambridgeUSA
  3. 3.School of Engineering and Applied SciencesHarvard UniversityCambridgeUSA

Personalised recommendations