Slip on the surface of silicon wafers under laser irradiation:Scale effect

The slip mechanism on the surface of silicon wafers under laser irradiation was studied by numerical simulations and experiments. Firstly, the slip was explained by an analysis of the generalized stacking fault energy and the associated restoring forces. Activation of unexpected 110 slip planes was predicted to be a surface phenomenon. Experimentally, 110 slip planes were activated by changing doping concentrations of wafers and laser parameters respectively. Slip planes were 110 when slipping started within several atomic layers under the surface and turned into 111 with deeper slip. The scale effect was shown to be an intrinsic property of silicon.