Laser annealing of silicon implanted with both argon and arsenic

Abstract
Silicon samples implanted with both Ar and As at fluences of 1×1016/cm2 were irradiated with Q‐switched Nd:YAG double‐frequency laser pulses. Reordering of the damaged layers occurs for 30‐ and 130‐keV Ar implants at about 0.6 and 1.3 J/cm2, respectively. An Ar concentration of the order of (1–3)×1020 atoms/cm3 is retained, while good As substitutionality is observed. The presence of Ar atoms does not seem to inhibit the As‐Si reordering during pulsed laser annealing, and likewise the As atoms do not seem to inhibit Ar out‐diffusion. This behavior contrasts markedly with the strong coupling found in furnace annealing.