Present ability and problems of ultra-shallow junction formation by RTA

This article describes the current capability and problems in ultra-shallow junction formation by using rapid thermal annealing (RTA). By using this technology, shallow junctions with low sheet-resistance and good process controllability for early 100 nm technology nodes can be achieved, even though problems remain with process controllability for wafers of various structures and with the transient-enhanced diffusion (TED) effect of gate side-wall spacers.