Naučno-tehničeskij Vestnik Informacionnyh Tehnologij, Mehaniki i Optiki (Nov 2015)
MICROSTRUCTURING OF SILICON SINGLE CRYSTALS BY FIBER LASER IN HIGH-SPEED SCANNING MODE
Abstract
Subject of Study. The surface structure of the silicon wafers (substrate) with a thermally grown silicon dioxide on the surface (of SiO2/Si) is studied after irradiation by pulse fiber laser of ILI-1-20 type. The main requirements for exposure modes of the system are: the preservation of the integrity of the film of silicon dioxide in the process of microstructuring and the absence of interference of surrounding irradiated areas of the substrate. Method. Studies were carried out on silicon wafers KEF-4,5 oriented in the crystallographic plane (111) with the source (natural) silicon dioxide (SiO2) with thickness of about 4 nm, and SiO2 with 40 nm and 150 nm thickness, grown by thermal oxidation in moist oxygen. Also, wafers KHB-10 oriented in the plane (100) with 500 nm thickness of thermal oxide were investigated. Irradiation of SiO2/Si system was produced by laser complex based on ytterbium fiber pulse laser ILI-1-20. Nominal output power of the laser was 20 W, and the laser wavelength was λ = 1062 nm. Irradiation was carried out by a focused beam spot with a diameter of 25 microns and a pulse repetition rate of 99 kHz. The samples with 150 nm and 40 nm thickness of SiO2 were irradiated at a power density equal to 1,2·102 W/cm2, and the samples of SiO2 with 500 nm thickness were irradiated at a power density equal to 2,0·102 W/cm2. Scanning was performed using a two-axis Coordinate Scanning Device based on VM2500+ drives with control via a PC with the software package "SinMarkTM." Only one scan line was used at the maximum speed of the beam equal to 8750 mm/s. Morphology control of the irradiated samples was conducted by an optical microscope ZeissA1M with high-resolution CCD array. A scanning probe microscope Nanoedicator of the NT-MDT company was used for structural measurements. Main Results. It has been shown that at a single exposure of high-frequency pulsed laser radiation on SiO2/Si system, with maintaining the integrity of the SiO2 film, similar symmetric microstructures are formed on the silicon surface. We suggest that the reason for their appearance is the reconstruction of the surface of the silicon arising in the process of recrystallization of the silicon melt surface in the irradiated region of the substrate. The morphology of these microstructures is due to several factors: crystallographic orientation of the plate, original (before the thermal oxidation) reconstruction of the plate surface, elastic stresses of SiO2/Si, laser treatment (thermal, corpuscular, wave). Exposure modes for the observed structures have been determined. Practical Relevance. For the first time in the microstructuring of SiO2/Si by fiber laser in the high-speed scanning mode, images of pieces have been obtained, which can indirectly imply that the reconstruction of atoms on the silicon substrate surface occurs before the thermal oxidation. Clearly marked localization of laser energy at selected irradiation modes enables to assert the possibility of detection and control of structural defects for the elements of semiconductor electronic devices.
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