Crystallization processing for semiconductor applications

• US 9,290,858 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2014
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Moffatt, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): SHOOK, DANIEL P
• Application Number:
  US14/495,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20150013588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 117/44, 257/E21.347, 438/36, 438/89, 438/166, 438/797, 438/799
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 13/24 using electromagnetic waves
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/403 AIII-nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02532 Silicon, silicon germanium, germanium
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02568 Chalcogenide semiconducting materials not being oxides, e.g. ternary compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02686 Pulsed laser beam
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/2636 for heating, e.g. electron beam heating
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/268 using electromagnetic radiation, e.g. laser radiation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/685 Hi-Lo semiconductor devices, e.g. memory devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1872 Recrystallisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/0095 Post-treatment of devices, e.g. annealing, recrystallisation or short-circuit elimination
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/547 Monocrystalline silicon PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/548 Amorphous silicon PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A method and apparatus for forming a crystalline semiconductor layer on a substrate are provided. A semiconductor layer is formed by vapor deposition. A pulsed laser melt/recrystallization process is performed to convert the semiconductor layer to a crystalline layer. Laser, or other electromagnetic radiation, pulses are formed into a pulse train and uniformly distributed over a treatment zone, and successive neighboring treatment zones are exposed to the pulse train to progressively convert the deposited material to crystalline material.

Claims

1. A method of treating a substrate, comprising:

identifying a first treatment zone;

forming a molten area of the first treatment zone by exposing a surface of the first treatment zone to a first laser pulse, wherein the first laser pulse has a non-uniformity of less than about 5 percent;

recrystallizing the molten area of the first treatment zone while exposing the first treatment zone to a first plurality of laser pulses;

identifying a second treatment zone;

forming a molten area of the second treatment zone by exposing a surface of the second treatment zone to a second laser pulse, wherein the second laser pulse has a non-uniformity of less than about 5 percent; and

recrystallizing the molten area of the second treatment zone while exposing the second treatment zone to a second plurality of laser pulses.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming a molten area of each treatment zone further comprises exposing the surface of each treatment zone to a third laser pulse, and a duration between the first laser pulse or second laser pulse and the third laser pulse is less than a time necessary for a portion of the molten area to refreeze.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first laser pulse and the third laser pulse have the same duration and intensity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each pulse of the first plurality of laser pulses has the same duration and intensity as the first laser pulse.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each pulse of the first plurality of laser pulses has a duration or an intensity that is different from the first laser pulse.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the forming a molten area of each treatment zone further comprises exposing the surface of each treatment zone to a third laser pulse, and a duration between the first laser pulse and the third laser pulse is less than a time necessary for a portion of the molten area to refreeze.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second treatment zone and the first treatment zone share a boundary.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a duration between each pulse of the second plurality of laser pulses is more than a time to freeze the portion of the first treatment zone.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each pulse of the first and second plurality of laser pulses melts a portion of a recrystallized area.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second treatment zone is adjacent to the first treatment zone.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each pulse of the first and second plurality of laser pulses melts a portion of a recrystallized area and the second treatment zone is adjacent to the first treatment zone.

12. A method of treating a substrate, comprising:

identifying a first treatment zone;

forming a molten area of the first treatment zone by exposing a surface of the first treatment zone to a first group of one or more laser pulses and a second group of one or more laser pulses;

recrystallizing the molten area of the first treatment zone while exposing the first treatment zone to a third group of one or more laser pulses, wherein a power delivered by the third group of one or more laser pulses is less than a power delivered by the first group of one or more laser pulses and a power delivered by the second group of one or more laser pulses;

identifying a second treatment zone; and

repeating the forming a molten area and the recrystallizing the molten area with the second treatment zone.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein first group of one or more laser pulses are separated from the second group of one or more laser pulses by a rest duration, wherein the rest duration allows partial refreezing of the molten area before a subsequent pulse arrives.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first group of one or more pulses is one pulse, the second group of one or more pulses comprises multiple pulses and the third group of one or more pulses comprises multiple pulses, wherein a power delivered by the second group of one or more pulses is higher than that delivered by the first group of one or more pulses.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the multiple pulses of the second group of one or more pulses overlap in time, and wherein the multiple pulses of the third group of one or more pulses are separated by a rest duration.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second treatment zone is adjacent to the first treatment zone.

17. A method of treating a substrate, comprising:

identifying a first treatment zone;

forming a molten area of the first treatment zone by exposing a surface of the first treatment zone to a first plurality of laser pulses;

recrystallizing the molten area of the first treatment zone while exposing the first treatment zone to a second plurality of laser pulses, wherein each pulse of the second plurality of laser pulses melts a portion of a recrystallized area;

identifying a second treatment zone; and

repeating the forming a molten area and the recrystallizing the molten area with the second treatment zone.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each pulse of the first plurality of laser pulses has a duration between about 1 ns and about 50 ns.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the second treatment zone is adjacent to the first treatment zone.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein each pulse of the first plurality of laser pulses delivers a power between about 10⁷ W/cm² and about 10⁹ W/cm².