KR20180021393A - METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WORKS - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of processing a solar cell is disclosed wherein a short heat treatment is performed on the workpiece after the workpiece is injected with boron. This short heat treatment can be performed before the workpiece is placed in the carrier. The short heat treatment may be performed using a laser, a heating lamp or LEDs. In some embodiments, the heat source is located within the loadlock and is activated after the workpiece is processed. In other embodiments, the heat source is disposed on a conveyor belt used to move the processed work from the load lock to the load / unload station.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WORKS

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for improving the performance of solar cells and, more particularly, to methods for reducing the amount of boron diffusing from a workpiece during an annealing process.

Semiconductor workpieces are usually implanted into the dopant species to produce the desired conductivity. For example, the solar cells can be injected into the dopant species to create an emitter region. This implantation can be accomplished using a variety of different mechanisms. The creation of emitter regions allows the formation of p-n junctions in the solar cell. As the light impinges on the solar cells, electrons are activated to generate electron-hole pairs. Minority carriers generated by energy from the incident light pass across the p-n junction in the solar cell. This produces a current that can be used to power an external load.

In some embodiments, boron is used to create a p-doped region in the solar cell. For example, in an n-type PERL (passivated emitter, rear localized) solar cell, boron is implanted into the front surface. However, when a cell undergoes annealing during fabrication, boron tends to diffuse out of the cells. When the solar cells are annealed, the solar cells are typically placed in the carrier, such that the front surface of one solar cell is adjacent to the rear surface of the next solar cell. During annealing of implanted boron, boron at or near the front surface can diffuse out at elevated temperatures if it is not bonded and is not efficiently driven into the workpiece. The outdiffusion of boron from the front surface of such a solar cell then results in contamination of adjacent solar cells or the rear surface of the solar cell and leads to severe degradation of surface passivation, do. This external diffusion of boron also reduces the doping concentration in the p-doped region.

As a result, protective layers are often deposited on the surfaces of the solar cell prior to annealing to reduce external diffusion of boron from the front surface and its diffusion into the back surface of adjacent solar cells. However, the deposition and subsequent removal of these protective layers adds processes that add time and money to the solar cell manufacturing process.

Thus, an apparatus and method for improving the manufacturing process associated with solar cells, particularly reducing contamination associated with boron outdiffusion, would be beneficial.

An apparatus and method for processing a solar cell is disclosed wherein a short heat treatment is performed on the workpiece after the workpiece is injected with boron. This short heat treatment can be performed before the workpiece is placed in the carrier. The short heat treatment may be performed using a laser, a heating lamp or LEDs. In some embodiments, the heat source is located within the loadlock and is activated after the workpiece is processed. In other embodiments, the heat source is disposed on a conveyor belt used to move the processed work from the load lock to the load / unload station.

According to one embodiment, a method of processing a workpiece is disclosed. The method includes: injecting boron into a first surface of a workpiece; Exposing the workpiece to a short heat treatment while the workpiece is returned to the carrier after the injecting step; And causing the workpiece to undergo an annealing process after the step of exposing. In certain embodiments, oxygen is supplied to the environment during the step of exposing. In certain embodiments, oxygen and at least one inert gas are supplied to the environment during the step of exposing. In some embodiments, short thermal processing is performed using a laser. In certain embodiments, the short heat treatment is performed using one or more heating lamps. In certain embodiments, the short thermal processing is performed using one or more LEDs. In certain embodiments, the method includes injecting oxygen into the first surface of the workpiece prior to the step of exposing. In some additional embodiments, oxygen is implanted simultaneously with boron. In certain embodiments, the short heat treatment heats the workpiece to a temperature between 850 ° C and 1450 ° C.

According to a second embodiment, an apparatus for processing a workpiece is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: a load lock; A chamber housing an injection system in communication with the loadlock; And a heat source disposed within the loadlock for heating the workpiece after the workpiece is processed by the injection system. In certain embodiments, oxygen is supplied to the loadlock while the heat source is operating. In certain embodiments, the heat source comprises a heating lamp, a laser or LEDs.

According to a third embodiment, an apparatus for processing a workpiece is disclosed. The apparatus includes a load / unload station in which the workpiece is removed from the carrier; Loadlock; A conveyor belt for moving the work between the load / unload station and the loadlock; A chamber housing an injection system in communication with the loadlock; And a heat source disposed on the conveyor belt for heating the workpiece while the workpiece is returned to the load / unload station after the workpiece is processed by the injection system. In certain embodiments, the heat source comprises a heating lamp, a laser or LEDs. In certain embodiments, the length of the beam directed toward the workpiece is greater than the first dimension of the workpiece.

For a better understanding of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Figure 1 illustrates a representative fabrication flow for an n-type PERL solar cell according to one embodiment.
Figure 2 shows a representative fabrication flow for an n-type PERL solar cell according to the second embodiment.
Figures 3A-3C illustrate thermal profiles that may be used during short thermal processing.
Figure 4 shows a first embodiment of an apparatus that can be used to achieve the manufacturing flows shown in Figures 1-2.
Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of an apparatus that can be used to achieve the manufacturing flows shown in Figures 1-2.

The injected solar cells are very sensitive to surface states and processing sequences. For example, implanted boron may diffuse out of the front surface of the solar cell during high temperature annealing. As mentioned above, this reduces the concentration of the p-type dopant in the front surface. In addition, the diffused boron can then diffuse into the rear surface, which may be n-type doped or not doped at all.

One way to prevent contamination of the back surface of a solar cell of unwanted boron is to remove boron from the surface of the workpiece prior to the annealing process. In some embodiments, this may be accomplished using short thermal processing, such as rapid thermal process (RTP), flash annealing, or laser annealing. This short thermal treatment (STT) is intended to remove boron disposed on the surface of the solar cell and may or may not lead to the formation of an emitter. In certain embodiments, the rate of removal of boron may be altered by controlling the composition of the ambient gas. For example, short heat treatment may be performed in a surrounding environment containing a gas such as oxygen to control the duration of surface boron removal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows an exemplary fabrication process that may be used to reduce boron external diffusion from the front surface and / or reduce diffusion of boron into the back surface.

First, as shown in process 100, the workpiece can be textured. Texturing can increase the surface area of the front surface. In some embodiments, the workpiece may be n-type silicon. A p-type dopant, such as boron, is then injected into the front surface of the workpiece, as shown in process 110. Likewise, as shown in process 130, an n-type dopant, such as phosphorus, is implanted into the back surface of the workpiece. It will be appreciated that, although FIG. 1 shows that boron is implanted into the front surface, in other embodiments, boron may be implanted into the rear surface. 1 illustrates that phosphorus is implanted into the posterior surface, this disclosure is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, other dopants may be implanted into the surface opposite the boron-implanted surface. In other embodiments, the surface opposite the boron-implanted surface may not be implanted at all. The process described herein may be applied to any manufacturing process that involves injecting boron into at least one surface of the workpiece.

One or both of the implants may be blanket implants, wherein the entire surface is implanted without the use of a mask. Alternatively, one or both of these implants may be patterned implants, wherein a mask is used only to enable only a portion of the surface to be implanted with dopant ions.

In addition, boron ion implantation (process 110) can be performed to amorphize the front surface. However, in other embodiments, the energy and duration of boron ion implantation may not completely amorphize the front surface. Boron ion implantation can utilize a variety of ionic species including but not limited to B, BF, BF ₂ , BF ₃ , or B ₂ F ₄ .

Traditionally, due to the external diffusion of boron from the front surface, a protective layer has been applied to the front surface and / or the back surface of the solar cell prior to the annealing process. The protective surface reduces external diffusion, but this is costly in terms of the number of processes. Specifically, the protective layer is first deposited on the front and / or rear surface of the solar cell. After the annealing process is complete, these protective layers are then removed.

In the processes shown in Fig. 1, no protective layer is deposited. Rather, a short thermal process (shown in process 120) is performed after boron ion implantation (process 110). Such short thermal processing may be less than 10 seconds in certain embodiments, and may be performed using laser annealing, flash annealing, or rapid thermal processing. The short heat treatment is designed to cause intentional external diffusion of boron from the surface of the workpiece. In certain embodiments, the short heat treatment is performed while the workpiece is disposed on their rear surfaces. For example, a laser beam in the form of a pulse or a continuous wave can be sent toward the front surface of each workpiece after the workpiece is injected with boron. The short heat treatment will result in the boron located near the surface of the work being diffused out of the work. However, since workpieces can be placed on their rear surfaces, very little contamination of the rear surfaces can occur during short heat treatment. Thus, the short heat treatment can occur after the workpiece has been injected and before the workpiece is typically returned to the carrier used to hold the plurality of workpieces.

Figure 1 shows the implantation of phosphorus (process 130) that occurs after boron implantation (process 110) and short thermal processing (process 120), although other embodiments are also within the scope of this disclosure. For example, implantation of phosphorus (process 130) may be performed prior to boron implantation (process 110). In another embodiment, implantation of phosphorus (process 130) may occur before a short thermal process (process 120). For all of these embodiments, the short heat treatment (process 120) occurs after the boron implant (process 110) and before the annealing process (process 140).

Next, as shown in process 140, an annealing process is performed. In certain embodiments, a cleaning process may be performed prior to the annealing process. The purpose of the annealing process is to drive implanted dopants into the workpiece, to repair any damage caused by implantation, and to activate the dopant. In certain embodiments, the annealing process is performed while the plurality of workpieces are disposed in a carrier that can be made of quartz. The carrier may stack workpieces such that the front surface of one workpiece is adjacent to the rear surface of an adjacent workpiece. However, since the boron has been diffused out during the short heat treatment, the back surfaces of the workpieces may not be contaminated during the annealing process.

Next, as shown in process 150, passivation layers are formed on the front and back surfaces of the solar cell. An anti-reflective coating (ARC) is then applied to the front and / or rear surfaces, as shown in process 160. Such an ARC may be silicon nitride (SiN), but other materials may be used. The metal contacts are then applied using screen printing (SP), as shown in process 170. Metal pastes are typically fritted to ensure good contact with the solar cell through the ARC. The substrate is then fired to allow the metal to bind and diffuse into the substrate, as shown in process 180. The resulting solar cells are then tested and stored, as shown in process 190. It will be appreciated that while processes 150-190 illustrate a particular set of processes, other or different processes may be performed after the annealing process (process 140).

Figure 2 illustrates another embodiment of a manufacturing process that may be used. In this embodiment, similar processes are given the same reference indicators as used in FIG. The embodiment of FIG. 1 assumed that only boron was injected into the front surface during the process 110.

However, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, oxygen is also implanted with boron in process 210. In certain embodiments, such as non-mass analyzed systems, the oxygen can be co-implanted with boron. In other words, a first feed gas containing boron and a second feed gas containing oxygen may be introduced to produce boron-containing first ions and oxygen-containing second ions. The number of oxygen ions with respect to the number of boron ions can be determined based on the gas flow, the power applied to the ion source, or other parameters. Oxygen ions can be in the form of O or O ₂ ions. In other embodiments, the oxygen can be injected with a separate implant. For example, oxygen ions can be implanted at implant energies between 2-20 kV. In each embodiment, the concentration of oxygen injected into the workpiece may be between 1E14 and 5E15 cm <" ² >.

 The injection of oxygen can change the rate of diffusion of boron outside the front surface of the workpiece.

Figures 3A-3C illustrate various embodiments of short heat treatment. In these embodiments, the temperature of the short heat treatment process reaches a plateau. In this plateau, the maximum temperature T _max can be between 850 ° C and 1450 ° C, but other temperature ranges are possible. The work remains in this temperature range for a time t2 that can be between 1 nanosecond and 10 seconds, but other durations are possible.

Fig. 3 shows a first embodiment. In this embodiment, the temperature is ramped from its ambient temperature to the T _max plateau. For all of these embodiments, the temperature can be ramped to a rate approaching or exceeding 1450 DEG C / s, but other rates are possible. The rate of increase may depend on the pulse duration and the input power of the heating source.

Temperature ramping is paused to allow the workpiece to remain at this temperature T _dwell at an intermediate temperature T _dwell that may be between 150 ° C and 850 ° C but less than T _max .

The work can stay at this temperature, which is a dwell period t1 that can be between 0 and 60 seconds, but other time durations are possible. The use of intermediate hold temperatures can minimize thermal shock and prevent thin work pieces from cracking.

While the work is in the T _dwell , oxygen gas can be supplied to the surrounding environment. In one embodiment, oxygen is supplied during the entire residence period. In another embodiment, the oxygen is supplied at the beginning of the residence period and turned off before the end of the residence period. In another embodiment, the oxygen is supplied after the start of the residence period and is turned off at or before the end of the residence period. In yet another embodiment, the oxygen may be supplied at a plurality of intervals during the residence time. The duration of time during which the oxygen is supplied during the residence period may also vary. For example, oxygen may be supplied during the entire residence time t1 or during any portion thereof. Additionally, if oxygen is supplied in a plurality of intervals, these intervals may or may not be the same duration.

Oxygen can be supplied at any flow rate up to the maximum achievable flow rate. In addition, the total amount of oxygen supplied may also vary.

Figure 3a shows that the temperature remains constant during the time duration t1, but is possible in other embodiments. For example, instead of staying at one constant temperature, the slope of the temperature ramp can be slowed, and as a result, the temperature rises much more slowly during the residence time than during the initial temperature ramp. For example, the initial temperature ramp may be 1450 ° C / s. Once the temperature reaches the T _dwell , this rate can be slowed down to as low as 1 [deg.] C / minute during the residence time. After the residence period, the temperature ramp may return to its initial rate again, or may remain at a lower rate. Thus, the residence time is defined as a period of time in the range of temperatures or temperatures lower than the maximum temperature, which is used to adapt the workpiece to the elevated temperature. As described above, this residence time may be a constant temperature as shown in FIG. 3A, or it may be a time duration with a reduced temperature ramp.

After the residence period, the temperature can again be ramped until the temperature reaches T _max . As before, the rate of temperature change may be close to 1450 DEG C / s, similar to the initial rate, but other rates are possible. The workpiece may remain at this temperature for the duration of t2, where t2 is less than 10 seconds in some embodiments. Oxygen can also be supplied to the surrounding environment during this time period as well. Oxygen may be supplied during the duration t2 of this plateau or during any portion thereof, as described above with respect to the residence time. In addition, oxygen can be supplied during one interval or during a plurality of intervals. As is the case during the residence period, the flow rate of oxygen can be changed and the overall volume can also be varied. In some embodiments, oxygen may be provided as the only ambient gas. In other embodiments, oxygen may be mixed with other gases or mixtures of gases such as, but not limited to, nitrogen and argon.

After the duration of the temperature plateau has elapsed, the temperature can be ramped back to ambient temperature at any desired rate.

Figure 3b shows a second embodiment which does not have a defined residence period during initial temperature ramping. In this embodiment, the oxygen can be supplied to the environment during the time period t2 during which the maximum temperature _Tmax is achieved. In some embodiments, oxygen can be supplied as soon as the workpiece reaches a maximum temperature. In other embodiments, oxygen may be supplied at a later time during such a plateau. As before, the oxygen may be supplied during all or a portion of the duration t2 of the temperature plateau. Additionally, the oxygen may be supplied at a plurality of intervals, which may be the same or different durations. As described above, the flow rate of oxygen can be changed, such as the total volume of oxygen to be introduced.

In the variant of Fig. 3b, oxygen may be supplied to the surrounding environment during a portion of the initial ramp period t3. In one embodiment, the oxygen can be supplied at some point after the temperature reaches a certain temperature, for example, at least 550 ° C. In another embodiment, the temperature ramp may be smaller than the maximum obtainable to enable oxygen to be supplied over an extended period of time.

As described above, in certain embodiments, oxygen may be supplied for at least a portion of the short heat treatment. The presence of oxygen in the surrounding environment can affect the rate at which boron diffuses out of the workpieces.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 3C, the temperature profile may be similar to the temperature profile shown in FIG. 3B, however, the plateau at T _max may look like a sawtooth pattern. In this embodiment, heat can be supplemented with short pulses rather than a constant power supply to maintain the plateau temperature Tmax. This approach can result in lower overall power consumption.

Figure 4 shows an exemplary apparatus that may be used to perform the sequences shown in Figures 1 and 2. The device 400 may include a load / unload station 450. In certain embodiments, the load / unload station 450 may include a Front Opening Universal Pod (FOUP). In some embodiments, a plurality of workpieces is provided in the carrier. Workpieces can be individually removed from the carrier and placed on the first conveyor belt 440a. The first conveyor belt 440a may move the workpieces 10 from the load / unload station 450 to a load lock 420. [ The first conveyor belt 440a can move the workpieces 10 at a speed of between 10-20 cm / sec, but other speeds may be used.

The load lock 420 typically includes a sealable chamber having a first point of access 421 and a second point of access 422. The workpiece 10 may be positioned within the loadlock 420 by opening the first point 421 of access and placing the workpiece 10 within the sealable chamber. The next sealable chamber is then pumped down to a near vacuum. The second point of access 422 of the access is then opened and the workpiece 10 is removed by a substrate handling robot typically disposed in a chamber containing the injection system 430. The process operates in an opposite manner to the workpieces 10 leaving the chamber containing the injection system 430.

The injection system 430 is not limited by this disclosure. For example, implantation system 430 may be a beamline ion implanter. The beamline ion implanter has an ion source that produces an ion beam. These ion beams are directed toward the workpiece. In some embodiments, the ion beam is mass analyzed such that only ions of the desired mass / charge can be directed toward the workpiece. In other embodiments, the ion beam is not mass analyzed, which allows all ions to inject the workpiece. The ion beam energy can be controlled through the use of electrodes in the path of the ion beam that serve to accelerate or decelerate the ion beam as desired. The ion beam may be in the form of a ribbon beam in which the width of the ion beam is much larger than the height of the ion beam. In other embodiments, the ion beam may be a spot beam or a scanned ion beam. The ion source may be a Bernas ion source, or it may use inductive or capacitive coupling to produce the desired ions.

Alternatively, the injection system 430 may be a plasma chamber, wherein the workpiece is disposed in the same chamber in which the plasma is generated. Plasma can be generated using an RF source, but other techniques are also possible. The workpiece is then biased to draw the ions from within the plasma toward the workpiece, which injects the desired ions into the workpiece. Other types of devices may also be used to perform these ion implantation processes.

After the injection system 430 completes the injection process, the workpiece 10 is removed from the chamber using the load lock 420. As described above, the workpiece 10 is located within the loadlock 420, the second point of access 422 is closed, and the gas is returned to the atmospheric state to return the sealable chamber to the atmospheric state. Is introduced into the lock (420). After reaching the wait state, the first point of access 421 is opened and the works 10 can be removed. The workpieces 10 are returned to the load / unload station 450 via the second conveyor belt 440b. As with the first conveyor belt 440a, the workpieces 10 can be moved at a speed of 10-20 cm / sec.

A heat source 410 and an associated optical portion 411 of the heat source may be disposed on the second conveyor belt 440b. The thermal source 410 may include a laser operating in a continuous wave or pulsed mode. In other embodiments, the heat source 410 may be one or more infrared lamps. In other embodiments, the heat source 410 may be one or more LEDs. In certain embodiments, the heat source 410 and associated optics 411 may extend throughout one dimension of the workpiece 10 as the workpiece moves on the second conveyor belt 440b, and / / RTI > and / or creates a beam to be scanned. In other words, the workpiece 10 has a first dimension extending perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the second conveyor belt 440b (i.e., into the page of FIG. 4), and a second dimension extending in the direction of the movement of the second conveyor belt 440b Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI > In certain embodiments, the heat source 410 produces a beam having a length that is at least as great as the first dimension of the workpiece 10. The beam generated by the heat source 410 may have a width that is much smaller than the second dimension of the workpiece 10. In certain embodiments, the beam generated by the heat source 410 is pulsed such that all portions of the workpiece 10 are exposed to the beam. In other embodiments, the beam can always be energized.

In other embodiments, the heat source and associated optics produce a beam that is smaller than the first dimension of the workpiece 10. [ In these embodiments, the associated optics 411 can scan the beam in a first direction (i.e., in and out of the page) as the workpiece 10 moves along the second conveyor belt 440b . The scanning may also be performed in the belt movement direction. The focused heat from the heat source 410 may serve to raise the temperature of the workpiece 10 to the temperatures shown in Figures 3A-3C.

Thus, when the boron-implanted workpiece 10 is moved from the injection system 430 back to the load / unload station 450 along the second conveyor belt 440b, the workpiece 10 is subjected to a short heat treatment Suffer. In addition, since the workpiece 10 is placed on their rear surfaces on the second conveyor belt 440b, the heat is directed to the front surface of the workpiece 10, (10).

4 shows a first conveyor belt 440a that brings the works 10 from the load / unload station 450 to the loadlock 420 and a second conveyor belt 440b that returns the works 10 to the load / unload station 450 2 conveyor belt 440b, although other embodiments are also possible. For example, each conveyor belt may be capable of operating in both directions. For example, it may be possible for the first conveyor belt 440a to also return the work pieces 10 to the load / unload station 450. In addition, the number of conveyor belts is not limited by this disclosure. For example, there may be more than one conveyor belt. It may be possible for all or any subset of such conveyor belts to return the work pieces 10 from the load lock 420 to the load / unload station 450. The individual heat source 410 and its associated optics 411 may be used to control the temperature of the respective workpiece 10 that can move the workpiece 10 from the loadlock 420 to the load / Is placed on the conveyor belt. In other embodiments, the individual heat source 410 and its associated optics 411 may be configured to receive at least one (e.g., at least one) heat source 410 capable of moving the workpiece 10 from the loadlock 420 to the load / Of the conveyor belt.

Figure 5 illustrates another embodiment of an apparatus 500 that may be used. The same components as those used in Fig. 4 are given similar reference indicators and will not be described again. In this embodiment, the heat source 510 is disposed within the load lock 420 rather than being disposed over the second conveyor belt 440b. The heat source 510 may be one or more heating lamps, or may be a laser or a plurality of LEDs.

In operation, after processing, the workpiece 10 is positioned within the loadlock 420. In this embodiment, the heat source 510 may be activated when the load lock 420 is returned to the standby state with the injected workpiece disposed therein. In certain embodiments, the time for pumping the load lock 420 back into the standby state can be as long as 10 seconds, which allows short thermal processing to occur during this period. In certain embodiments, oxygen is pumped into the load lock 420 as the load lock 420 returns to the standby state. In other embodiments, oxygen and at least one other gas are pumped into the load lock 420 as the load lock 420 returns to the standby state. In this manner, oxygen is introduced into the loadlock 420 while the workpiece undergoes a short heat treatment.

Although the present disclosure describes the use of such a method as used in the fabrication of n-type PERL solar cells, the methods are applicable to a wide range of workpieces, such as n- type PERT, IBC, and boron, It can be applied to other high efficiency solar cells injected into one.

The apparatus and methods have a number of advantages. First, the method avoids having to apply a protective coating to the surfaces of the workpiece to avoid boron external diffusion contamination. This can reduce processing time, improve throughput and reduce cost. In addition, these methods can be conveniently integrated into existing semiconductor devices. For example, the heat source may be disposed within the loadlock when the processed workpiece is removed from the chamber. Alternatively, the heat source may be placed on conveyor belts that return the processed work to the load / unload station. Additionally, the non-equilibrium nature of these processes may also lead to additional advantages, such as process simplification and improvements. One aspect of boron implantation and downstream processing is removal of implant related defects. Because STT utilizes a relatively high processing temperature (Tmax), even for short periods of time, short heat treatment is possible to remove boron implant-related defects and cause improved emitter performance and subsequent improved solar cell performance .

This disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Rather, in addition to the embodiments described herein, various other embodiments of the disclosure and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, these other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, although the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of certain embodiments in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the benefit of this disclosure is not so limited, and that the disclosure may be applied to any number of environments As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in light of the full breadth and spirit of this disclosure, as set forth herein.

Claims (15)

CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A method of processing a workpiece,
Injecting boron into the first surface of the workpiece;
Exposing the workpiece to a short heat treatment while the workpiece is returned to the carrier after the injecting step; And
And causing the workpiece to undergo an anneal process after the exposing step.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein oxygen is supplied to the environment during said exposing step.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein during said exposing step oxygen and at least one inert gas are supplied to the environment.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the short heat treatment is performed using a laser.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the short heat treatment is performed using one or more heating lamps.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the short heat treatment is performed using one or more LEDs.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the method further comprises injecting oxygen into the first surface of the workpiece prior to the step of exposing.
The method of claim 7,
Oxygen is implanted simultaneously with boron.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the short heat treatment heats the workpiece to a temperature between 850 ° C and 1450 ° C.
An apparatus for processing a workpiece,
Load lock;
A chamber housing an injection system in communication with the loadlock; And
And a heat source disposed within the loadlock for heating the workpiece after the workpiece is processed by the injection system.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein oxygen is supplied to the load lock while the heat source is operating.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the heat source comprises a heating lamp, a laser or LEDs.
An apparatus for processing a workpiece,
A load / unload station in which the workpiece is removed from the carrier;
Loadlock;
A conveyor belt for moving the workpiece between the load / unload station and the loadlock;
A chamber housing an injection system in communication with the loadlock; And
And a heat source disposed on the conveyor belt for heating the workpiece while the workpiece is returned to the load / unload station after the workpiece is processed by the injection system.
14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the heat source comprises a heating lamp, a laser or LEDs.
14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the length of the beam directed toward the workpiece is greater than the first dimension of the workpiece.

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