From millisecond to nanosecond annealing: Challenges and new approach

Nanosecond (nsec) melt annealing offers unique capabilities such as ultra low thermal budget, high dopant activation and super abruption junctions. But process integration is more difficult than millisecond (msec) annealing due to two orders of magnitude smaller heat diffusion length. In this paper, we will discuss some of the key challenges, and propose a new approach that combines the benefits of both msec and nsec annealing.