Raman scattering with nanosecond resolution during pulsed laser annealing of silicon

The development of the anti-Stokes to Stokes ratio of spontaneous Raman scattering in silicon is measured during annealing with a 10-ns laser pulse. Raman measurements with weak UV probe pulses avoid averaging over the penetration depth of the annealing pulses. The data suggest that the surface temperature rises above the melting point for exposure energies greater than 0.35 J/cm2. The absolute temperature inferred from the Raman experiments are subject to some uncertainty because of a lack of information on the temperature dependence of the Raman scattering cross sections.