Pulsed-laser melting of amorphous silicon: Time-resolved measurements and model calculations

It is demonstrated that the thermal conductivity of self-ion--implanted, amorphized silicon is an order of magnitude less than that of crystalline silicon and is by far the dominant parameter determining the dynamical response of the ion-implanted silicon system to pulsed-laser radiation; the latent heat and melting temperature of amorphous silicon are relatively unimportant. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that bulk nucleation occurs in the highly undercooled liquid phase; a model simulating this effect is presented.