Crystallization processing for semiconductor applications
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorStephen MOFFATT
Life of this patent
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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.
Claims20
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 plurality of 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.
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, wherein a power delivered by the second group of one or more laser pulses is higher than a power delivered by the first 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 adjacent to the first treatment zone;
- and
- repeating the forming a molten area and the recrystallizing the molten area with the second treatment zone.
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, wherein the pulses of the first plurality of laser pulses have an overlap factor between about 10 percent and about 40 percent;
- 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 adjacent to the first treatment zone;
- and
- repeating the forming a molten area and the recrystallizing the molten area with the second treatment zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.