Temperature and Stress Simulation of 4H-SiC during Laser-Induced Silicidation for Ohmic Contact Generation

We report here on the simulation of temperature and stress evolution of 4H-SiC during laser-induced silicidation to locally generate ohmic contacts between the semiconductor and nickel metallization. The simulation is based on optical free carrier absorption, thermal conduction, and thermal radiation. Our results show that, during laser irradiation, similar temperatures and correspondingly similar contact resistances, as compared to conventional oven-driven annealing processes, are achievable, yet with the advantageous potential to limit the temperature treatment spatially to the desired regions for electrical contacts and without the necessity of heating complete wafers. However, due to temperature gradients during local laser silicidation, thermal induced stress appears, which may damage the SiC wafer. Based on the simulated results for temperature and stress increase, we identify an optimized regime for laser-induced local silicidation and compare it to experimental data and observations.