Annealing of implantation damage and redistribution of impurities in SiC using a pulsed excimer laser

A 6Hα-SiC crystal sample, which has a surface amorphous layer resulting from a high-dose Ga implantation, was heated using a pulsed excimer laser at several energy fluences. At an energy fluence of 1.66 J/cm², the in situ reflectivity measurement of the surface during laser processing indicates that melting of the SiC surface has occurred. Rutherford backscattering and channeling analysis shows that the molten amorphous SiC recrystallizes using the substrate as a seed, and that the recrystallized layer has good crystal quality. Secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements indicate that the melting, resulting from the excimer laser pulse, results in significant redistribution of the implanted Ga. This result, the first reported for SiC, suggests that the pulsed ultraviolet process can anneal the implantation damage through a melt recrystallization process, and thus could be used to dope SiC through a gas phase adsorption process.