Direct nitridation of a silicon surface by multipulse excimer laser irradiation in a nitrogen-containing ambient gas

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Abstract
The successful synthesis of silicon nitride directly on the surface of a single‐crystalline silicon wafer by multipulse (up to n=2500) XeCl* excimer (λ=308 nm) laser irradiation in ambient ammonia or nitrogen atmospheres is reported. The amount and quality of the nitrided layers formed are shown to depend on both the number of subsequent laser pulses applied to the same irradiation site as well as on the nature of the ambient gas. Nuclear reactions, Auger electron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, electrical measurements, and optical and electron microscopy were applied to characterize the synthesized surface layers.