Patent ID: 7763828

Claim:
A system for performing laser thermal annealing of a semiconductor substrate having one or more activatable region and a Brewster's angle for a select wavelength of radiation, comprising: a two-dimensional array of laser diodes collectively adapted to emit continuous P-polarized radiation at the select wavelength; and an optical system arranged to receive the radiation emitted by the two-dimensional array of laser diodes and form a radiation beam that results in a line image at the substrate, wherein the radiation beam is incident the substrate at an incident angle that is at or near the Brewster's angle; a movable stage to support, and position, the substrate for at least one of said one or more activatable region to receive said line image; a reflected radiation monitor arranged to receive radiation reflected from the line image on the substrate and generate a reflected radiation signal corresponding to the amount of reflected radiation received; a temperature monitor arranged to measure a surface temperature of the substrate at the line image and generate a temperature signal corresponding to the measured surface temperature; and a controller connected to the movable stage, the reflected radiation monitor, the temperature monitor and the two-dimensional array of laser diodes, wherein the controller is adapted to control the emission of radiation from the two-dimensional array of laser diodes in response to receiving at least one of the reflected radiation signal and the temperature signal, and control the movable stage to scan the line image over the at least one of the one or more activatable region of the substrate with an intensity and duration effective to anneal the at least one of the one or more activatable region without exceeding the melting point of the semiconductor substrate; wherein the line image has an intensity and duration effective to anneal the at least one of the one or more activatable region without exceeding the melting point of the semiconductor substrate.