The influence of the annealing sequence on p+/n junctions observed by scanning capacitance microscopy

This letter reports on the investigation of p(+)-n junction variation produced by various annealing sequences. With well-controlled photoperturbation, we have employed scanning capacitance microscopy to directly observe the junction narrowing induced by post-spike furnace annealing. For p(+)-n junctions, it is revealed that post-spike furnace annealing may degrade the electrical activation of boron atoms, leading to junction narrowing without significant boron diffusion. The mechanism and the stability of electrical junctions formed by spike annealing are also discussed. The experimental results also clearly show that furnace annealing followed by spike annealing can result in junction broadening with a more concentrated boron profile. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.