Progress in vacuum photothermal processing (VPP)

Vacuum photothermal processing (VPP) is the follower of rapid thermal processing (RTP) in thin film technologies. It is clear now that simultaneous action of high energetic photons (more than 1.5 eV) and electron beam, significantly affect surfaces of thin film systems. Furthermore, the interfaces between metal contacts and semiconductors (Si, Ge) undergone this simultaneous influence, tend to vary their electronic properties. The novel VPP method decreases surface and interface roughness in metal-semiconductor contacts. The electrons flow while VPP may be controlled using a special tungsten grid attached to a DC voltage. This control in the electrons flow enables a smooth variation of the potential barrier amplitude within the metal-semiconductor contacts. VPP experiments were done for following metal-semiconductors systems: Au, Ag, Al, Ti, Ni, In, Cu, V in contact with Si. The obtained results clearly indicate on a broad application range of the VPP process in semiconductors and in the thin film industry.