Characterization of laser annealed polycrystalline silicon films on various substrates

Abstract

The structure and property of eximer laser annealed poly-Si films on various substrate materials such as MoW, Cr, SiO2 were studied. It was found that the crystallinity of the film depended on the recrystallization energy density and substrate materials. The crystallinity of the film on SiO2 substrate was the highest quality, and the higher the thermal conductivity of the substrate, the poorer the crystallinity of the poly-Si films at the same laser energy density. In the lower laser energy region than optimum, the grain size and surface roughness were increased with increasing laser power due to the increase of the crystallinity and decreased intrinsic stress. On the other hand, in the higher power region than optimum, with the increase of laser power, X-ray intensity and grain size were decreased due to the fast solidification velocity. There was no metal diffusion into poly-Si film but small amount of Si, less than 3 atomic percent, diffused into the metal film during the recrystallization process. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.