Abstract

The production of thin films on silicon using laser beams Is currently a topic of much interest. In particular, the growth of oxide layers has received much attention.¹ in controlled oxygen environments, localized heating by cw CO₂ and argon lasers² has been shown to promote oxidation; however, the rate of groswth of these layers has not been analyzed quantitatively. CO₂ laser radiation is absorbed in Si by free carrier processes, and since this does not in itself create more free carriers, the total excited population will be controlled by the lattice temperature. The Si heats as a result of normal carrier recombination processes which are dominated by Auger recombination at high carrier densities.

© 1983 Optical Society of America