Excimer-laser crystallization of Si films via bi-directional irradiation of dual-layer films on transparent substrates
- Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Mining Engineering
The growing demand for crystalline-Si TFT devices with high performance and device uniformity has resulted in an increased focus on the microstructure of the active-channel portion of a device. In this paper, the authors report on a new excimer-laser crystallization (ELC) method that is highly effective in extending the super-lateral growth (SLG) distance and which does not involve any preheating of the substrate. The technique utilizes bi-directional irradiation of a dual layer Si film stack (separated by an oxide layer) deposited on a quartz wafer. The top layer is irradiated with a projection system which transfers a mask image in order to produce grain-boundary-location-controlled (GLC) regions, and the bottom layer, upon irradiation with a uniform beam, acts as a medium that favorably affects the thermal evolution of the top layer. The thermal environment required for extending the SLG distance, as is induced by the melting and solidification of the bottom layer, is physically regulated by the melting temperature of Si, and the enthalpy difference between liquid and solid can be used to initially store and subsequently release heat. Using the method, the authors were able to attain GLC regions with widths up to 10 {micro}m in 1,000-{angstrom} Si films without any substrate heating. They elaborate on the applicability of the method to various artificially controlled super-lateral growth (ACSLG) techniques, and discuss process optimization by means of varying the multilayer configuration.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Advanced Research Projects Agency, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 490875
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951155-; ISBN 1-55899-300-2; TRN: IM9729%%126
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Fall meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS), Boston, MA (United States), 27 Nov - 1 Dec 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Advanced laser processing of materials -- Fundamentals and applications; Singh, R. [ed.] [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)]; Norton, D. [ed.] [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)]; Laude, L. [ed.] [Univ. of Mons-Hainaut, Mons (Belgium)]; Narayan, J. [ed.] [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)]; Cheung, J. [ed.] [Rockwell International Science Center, Thousand Oaks, CA (United States)]; PB: 693 p.; Materials Research Society symposium proceedings, Volume 397
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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