SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1986
STP23114S

Charge Emission and Accumulation in Multiple-Pulse Damage of Silicon

Source

To contribute to further understanding of damage mechanisms of silicon surfaces induced by picosecond Nd:YAG 1.06 μm laser pulses, damage at laser intensities below the 1-on-1 damage threshold has been studied. By using a biased charge collector or an electron multiplier tube, one can detect the charge emitted during small pit formation which may be considered as the initial damage morphology. The investigation of the accumulation period has been conducted by observing the first charge emission which indicates its termination. This accumulation time is analogous to the lifetime of the solids subject to a repeated mechanical load and is characterized by processes that are irreversible for at least 3 seconds. This suggests that the damage precursors are long-lived excitations or an accumulation of permanent states. The heterogeneous nature of the nucleation of damage suggests that these precursor states act as nucleation seeds to the laser induced damage. Charge emission after the incubation period was also studied. Positive and negative particles are emitted equally after damage initiation, probably due to thermal evaporation of silicon from small regions. The charge emission follows the Arrhenius relation. Experimentally, this result was independent of pulse repetition period up to at least 10 seconds.

Author Information

Jhee, YK
Becker, MF
Walser, RM
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Details
Developed by Committee: F01
Pages: 127–136
DOI: 10.1520/STP23114S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4997-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0960-5