Excimer laser annealing of shallow As and B doped layers

Excimer laser annealing (ELA) of As-, B- and BF2-implanted Si has been studied by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), spreading resistance probe (SRP) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The implantations have been performed in the energy range from 1 to 30 keV with doses of 1015–1016 cm−2. ELA has been carried out with the energy densities in the range of 600–1200 mJ/cm2 and the number of laser pulses from 1 to 10. It is shown that ELA results in a more uniform dopant distribution over the doped region with a more abrupt profile edge as compared to those after rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Besides, in contrast to RTA, ELA demonstrates a highly confined annealing effect, where the distribution of dopants below the melting region is not affected. SRP measurements demonstrate almost complete activation of the implanted dopants after ELA, and TEM does not reveal extended defects in the ELA-treated samples. The depth of the doped layers, abruptness of the profiles and the total doping dose as a function of ELA energy density and number of laser pulses are investigated. Computer simulations of ELA show a good agreement with the experimental data.