Prototype equipment for Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA)
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a ceramic compound of silicon and carbon whose properties such as high thermal conductivity and tolerance to radiation damage make it suitable for semiconductor applications. Currently, market needs rely on the use of inexpensive, high quality and large area SiC wafers particularly for microelectronical and biomedical applications at high temperatures and in harsh environments. Answering this need the FLASiC project developed a new production process for epitaxial and bulk Cubic SiC (3C-SiC) on Si substrates. The key objective was to reduce the defect density by several orders of magnitude in order to exploit the high electron mobility, large size and lower cost of the new material. For achieving this reduction, the Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA) in the millisecond range was selected since it allows high energy absorption at the heteroepitaxial interface. Within this context already available FLA equipment was reconstructed in relation to the FLASiC process conditions. These include the preheating conditions, the homogeneity of the irradiated area (50 mm wafer) and the reproducibility of the FLA parameters. The experience gained from this reconstruction aided in the development of a prototype FLA apparatus. Both types of FLA (modified and prototype) equipment are available for operation. The prototype may be applied in Si and SiC technology, while the reconstructed type can be used for other materials as well.
