A novel device for short-time diffusion annealing

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Abstract
A radiation-heated furnace with a design different from that of commercially available rapid thermal annealing units is presented. The particular requirements for application in research laboratories like fast heating, fast cooling, effective temperature measurement, high purity environment and suitability for small samples, are fulfilled. Four infrared halogen lamps symmetrically arranged around the sample in elliptical-section apertures serve as heat sources. They are electronically controlled to produce complete temperature-time profiles at the sample site within several tens of seconds. The temperature measurement is based on a thermally symmetrical design in which sample and PtRh/Pt thermocouple are held separately in approximately equal thermal masses. Provision of a quenching procedure allows cooling times of about 1 s, from 1350 K to room temperature, for example. The usefulness of our annealing procedure is demonstrated by diffusion experiments of gold in silicon.