Laser thermal processing apparatus and method
US6366308B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 16, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 2, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 16, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/268
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An method of and apparatus (10) for performing laser thermal processing (LTP) of a workpiece (74) having one or more workpiece fields (78). The apparatus includes a pulsed, solid state laser light source (14) having more than 1000 spatial modes (M) and capable of emitting one or more pulses of radiation with a temporal pulse length between 1 nanosecond and 1 microsecond, a workpiece stage (70) for supporting the workpiece, and an illumination optical system having an exposure field (64). The system is arranged between the laser light source and the workpiece stage so as to illuminate within the exposure field at least one of the one or more workpiece fields with the one or more pulses of radiation, with an irradiance uniformity of less than ±5%. The method and apparatus is particularly well-suited for LTP processing of workpieces which require a single pulse or only a few pulses of high-irradiance radiation. Other applications of the present invention include rapid thermal annealing of semiconductor devices in semiconductor device manufacturing and processing, recording information in storage media, and, in general, conditioning surfaces.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.