Modification of silicon properties with lasers, electron beams and incoherent light.

Direct energy sources such as lasers and electron beams permit spatially localized alteration of semiconductor microstructure and electrical properties. This review discusses the principal phenomena involved in high intensity irradiations of silicon. Physical mechanisms of epitaxial reordering of ion implanted layers are analyzed in terms of growth from either the solid or the liquid phase. Several applications of transient processing are discussed, such as annealing of ion implants, lateral epitaxy of silicon over substrates and device fabrication in recrystallized Si films.