Ion and Electron Spectroscopy During Pulsed Laser Irradiation of Silicon

ABSTRACTIon mass spectrometry, charged particle yields, and kinetic energy distributions of electrons and ions are used to characterize silicon wafers and vacuum-cleaved silicon surfaces under conditions related to laser annealing. We find that alkali metals dominate the positive ion emission from chemically-cleaned wafers, a mass-72 peak tentatively identified as Si2O+ comprises the main ion emission from the cleaved surface, and ion and electron temperatures can be derived from the energy distribution curves although the Si2O+ emission implies more than a simple thermal evaporation process.</jats:p