General kinetic rules for rapid thermal processing

Up to now, kinetic effects in rapid thermal processing (RTP) have been assessed qualitatively and rather vaguely through the concept of thermal budget. We discuss the shortcomings associated with thermal budget and present an alternate conceptual framework that explicitly treats selectivity between desired and undesired physical phenomena. This framework is quite simple and is intended for rapidly assessing the qualitative effects of various heating programs. From a purely kinetic perspective, selecting the best program involves only comparing the activation energies for the desired and undesired rate phenomena. We cite examples where application of the thermal budget approach gives incorrect guidance for minimizing the undesired process. Such deficiencies are rectified by the framework presented here.