CONTINUOUS WAVE LASER-INDUCED CHEMICAL-REACTIONS WITH INTEGRATED-CIRCUITS

Interaction of a focused continuous wave laser beam with integrated circuits leads to various chemical reactions according to the nature of the irradiated interface and to the surrounding atmosphere. Silicon, tungsten, and nickel were locally deposited using silane, tungsten fluoride, or nickel carbonyl, respectively. The kinetics of these chemical reactions have been investigated and compared to the results of an appropriate kinetic model for surface reactions. Various chemical reactions for surface etching have also been investigated, such as etching of aluminum or silicon dioxide which occur at high temperature. Cutting interconnections, etching insulator layers, or depositing new chemical connections are the main applications of the laser-gas-surface chemical interaction, which is being more and more widely used for micron size features.