PCT No. PCT / JP98 / 02567 Sec. 371 Date Jan. 13, 1999 Sec. 102(e) Date Jan. 13, 1999 PCT Filed Jun. 10, 1998 PCT Pub. No. WO98 / 57146 PCT Pub. Date Dec. 17, 1998Measurement light, which has been emitted from a Xe
light source (20) and then linearly polarized by a
polarizer (21), is made to be incident at a tilt angle on a region in a
silicon substrate (11) with
crystallinity disordered by the implantation of
dopant ions. And the spectra of cos
DELTA and tan psi are measured with a variation of the measurement light, where
DELTA is a
phase difference between respective components in p and s directions as to the light reflected as an elliptically-polarized
ray, and psi is a ratio between the amplitudes of these components. By correlating in advance the spectral patterns of cos
DELTA and so on with the thickness of an amorphous region through a destructive test or the like, or by paying special attention to characteristic parts of the patterns of cos DELTA and so on, the thickness or the degree of disordered
crystallinity of the amorphous region is estimated. Also, since a variation in the thickness of the amorphous region can be identified based on a variation of cos DELTA before and after a heat treatment, a temperature of the heat treatment can be sensed based on the variation of the thickness. Thus, an evaluation method allowing for nondestructive
estimation of the thickness and the degree of disorder of a region, having
crystallinity disordered by implanting
dopant ions into a
semiconductor region at a high level, can be provided.