Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) has been found to be an extremely fast and flexible means of studying transition metals in silicon. A variety of materials are examined over a wide range of temperatures and times. RTA successfully brings out metallic haze over a temperature range of 300°–1200°C. The sizes and shapes of precipitates are found to vary from metal to metal and with concentration and temperature. This metal detection technique has been applied in a production environment to locate and monitor sources of metal contamination.