Numerical and experimental analysis of pulsed excimer laser processing of silicon carbide

In this work, we investigated the thermal behaviour of both crystalline and amorphous SiC under pulsed excimer laser treatment at different wavelengths (193, 248 and 308 nm) and for pulse durations ranging from 20 to 200 ns. Numerical analysis was performed by solving the heat flow equation and using the appropriate optical and thermal parameters for SiC. The reasonable agreement found between the simulations and experimental results confirms the adequacy of such a type of numerical analysis for predicting the thermal behaviour of SiC under excimer laser processing. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.