Solid phase epitaxy of laser amorphized silicon.
01 January 1988
The solid phase epitaxy regrowth kinetics of laser amorphized [100] silicon-on-sapphire was studied using in situ time resolved optical transmission. Regrowth rates for = 20 nm thick amorphous silicon films were observed to increase, from 1.7x10 sup (- 10) cm/sec at 750K to 1.9x 10 sup (-7) cm/sec at 900K. The recrystallization velocity followed an Arrhenius behavior with an activation enthalpy of 2.71 eV. These results provide strong confirmation that the metastable phase quenched following laser irradiation is structurally equivalent to amorphous silicon produced by ion implantation or ultra-high vacuum deposition, and is not stabilized by impurities.