Patent ID: 8309472

Claim:
A method for fabricating semiconductor devices, the method comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a surface region, the surface region having one or more contaminants, the one or more contaminants including at least a carbon species, the surface region having an overlying oxide layer; processing the surface region using at least a wet processing process to selectively remove the oxide layer and expose the surface region including the one or more contaminants; subjecting the surface region to a high energy electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths ranging from about 300 nanometers to about 800 nanometers for a time period of less than 1 second to increase a temperature of the surface region to greater than 1000 degrees Celsius to remove the one or more contaminants provided on the surface region; and removing the high energy electromagnetic radiation to cause a reduction in temperature to about 300 degrees Celsius to about 600 degrees Celsius in a time period of less than 1 second.