Abstract: Processes for forming semiconductor structure comprising a transfer layer transferred from a donor substrate are provided in which the resulting structure has improved quality with respect to defects and resulting structures therefrom. For example, a semiconductor on insulator (“SeOI”) structure can be formed using a donor substrate, a support substrate and an insulating layer. The donor substrate may be formed using CZ pulling of semiconductor material at a rate that results in the existence of vacancy clusters. An insulating layer for the SeOI structure can be formed by depositing an oxide layer on the donor or support substrate. An insulating layer can also be formed by thermal oxidizing the support substrate. An SeOI structure can be formed by combining the donor substrate, the support substrate, and the insulating layer there between, and detaching the combination including a thin layer of the donor substrate using a zone of weakness that was formed in the donor substrate.

Abstract: A method and a deposition system for increasing deposition rates of metal layers from metal-carbonyl precursors using CO gas and a dilution gas. The method includes providing a substrate in a process chamber of a processing system, forming a process gas containing a metal-carbonyl precursor vapor and a CO gas, diluting the process gas in the process chamber, and exposing the substrate to the diluted process gas to deposit a metal layer on the substrate by a thermal chemical vapor deposition process.

Abstract: This invention provides methods for manufacturing compound-material wafers and methods for recycling donor substrates that results from manufacturing compound-material wafers. The provided methods includes at least one further thermal treatment step configured to at least partially reduce oxygen precipitates and/or nuclei. Reduction of oxygen precipitates and/or nuclei, improves the recycling rate of the donor substrate.

Abstract: There is provided an optical system for reducing faint interference observed when laser annealing is performed to a semiconductor film. The faint interference conventionally observed can be reduced by irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam by the use of an optical system using a mirror of the present invention. The optical system for transforming the shape of the laser beam on an irradiation surface into a linear or rectangular shape is used. The optical system may include an optical system serving to convert the laser beam into a parallel light with respect to a traveling direction of the laser beam. When the laser beam having passed through the optical system is irradiated to the semiconductor film through the mirror of the present invention, the conventionally observed faint interference can be reduced. Besides, the optical system which has been difficult to adjust can be simplified.

Abstract: In a laser annealing process: a bandlike area of a nonmonocrystalline semiconductor film is scanned and irradiated with continuous-wave laser light so as to produced fused regions in the first to third sections of the bandlike area as follows, where the third section contains a portion required to have higher crystallinity than other portions of the bandlike area. First, a first fused region having a substantially uniform width is formed in the first section. Then, at least a portion of the first fused region which is last fused is solidified, and thereafter at least a subportion of the solidified portion having a smaller width than the first fused region is re-fused. Subsequently, a second fused region having a stepwise or continuously increasing width is produced in the second section, and then a third fused region substantially uniformly having the increased width is produced in the third section.

Abstract: A linear pulse laser beam to be applied to an illumination surface is so formed as to have, at the focus, an energy profile in the width direction which satisfies inequalities 0.5L1?L2?L1 and 0.5L1?L3?L1 where assuming that a maximum energy is 1, L1 is a beam width of two points having an energy of 0.95 and L1 +L2 +L3 is a beam width of two points having an energy of 0.70, L2 and L3 occupying two peripheral portions of the beam width. According to another aspect of the invention, a compound-eye-like fly-eye lens for expanding a pulse laser beam in a sectional manner is provided upstream of a cylindrical lens for converging the laser beam into a linear beam.

Abstract: A method of hydrogen sintering a substrate including a semiconductor device formed thereon comprises the steps of exciting a processing gas comprising a noble gas and a hydrogen gas to form a plasma comprising hydrogen radicals and hydrogen ions, and exposing the substrate to the plasma. A preferred method comprises forming a gate insulation film on a substrate, forming a polysilicon electrode on the gate insulation film, and exposing the polysilicon electrode to an atmosphere comprising hydrogen radicals and hydrogen ions.

Abstract: At present, a forming process of a base film through an amorphous silicon film is conducted in respective film forming chambers in order to obtain satisfactory films. When continuous formation of the base film through the amorphous silicon film is performed in a single film forming chamber with the above film formation condition, crystallization is not sufficiently attained in a crystallization process. By forming the amorphous silicon film using silane gas diluted with hydrogen, crystallization is sufficiently attained in the crystallization process even with the continuous formation of the base film through the amorphous silicon film in the single film forming chamber.

Abstract: An impurity is ion-implanted with a silicon nitride film formed on a silicon substrate as a mask film to form a source/drain layer of a MOS transistor. Heat treatment for activating the impurity is done as it is without removing the silicon nitride film to thereby produce heat treatment-based stress between the silicon nitride film and the silicon substrate.

Abstract: There is provided a method for fabricating an image display device having an active matrix substrate including high-performance transistor circuits operating with high mobility as drive circuits for driving pixel portions which are arranged as a matrix. The portion of a polysilicon film formed in a drive circuit region DAR1 provided on the periphery of the pixel region PAR of the active matrix substrate SUB1 composing the image display device is irradiated and scanned with a pulse modulated laser beam or a pseudo CW laser beam to be reformed into a quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film having a crystal boundary continuous in the scanning direction so that discrete reformed regions each composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film are formed.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a phase shifter for laser annealing which is capable of effectively preventing the sticking of particles. A first layer and a third layer are made of quartz glass, and a two-dimensional pattern of fine grooves is formed in the surfaces of the layers. The first layer and the third layer are arranged so that a second layer is sandwiched between the layers in a state in which the surfaces provided with the grooves face each other. A peripheral edge portion of the first layer is laminated on that of the third layer by a spacer. The second layer is made of an inactive gas introduced between the first layer and the third layer.

Abstract: Apparatus for thermally processing a substrate includes a source of laser radiation comprising a plurality diode lasers arranged along a slow axis, optics directing the laser radiation from the source to the substrate, and an array of photodetectors arranged along a fast axis perpendicular to the slow axis and receiving portions of the laser radiation reflected from the substrate through the optics.