Ultrafast laser-induced oxidation of silicon: A new approach towards high quality, low-temperature, patterned SiO2 formation

Abstract

A new low‐temperature method of rapidly forming (>100 Å/s) high quality patterned silicon dioxide (SiO₂) layers on silicon substrates is presented. Ultraviolet pulsed laser excitation in an oxygen environment is utilized. Infrared absorption measurements indicate that the laser grown oxide is stoichiometric but with a higher degree of disorder than thermally grown oxide. From capacitance‐voltage measurements we deduce a fixed oxide charge near the Si‐SiO₂ interface of 6×10¹⁰/cm² for oxides that have been thermally annealed following the laser induced growth making this material a candidate for applications in semiconductor devices.