Excimer laser crystallization processing of thin silicon films on amorphous silicon oxide substrates was simulated by means of phase field modeling. The quantitative phase field model was derived from the Gibbs-Thompson equation coupled with energy conservation. Because the adaptive mesh scheme was adopted, the present calculations could accommodate both two-dimensional superlateral growth ͑SLG͒ phenomena and the realistic interface thickness ͑in the order of 10 −10 m͒. The vertical growth of fine-grained nucleation structures was simulated using one-dimensional calculations, and the results are consistent with those obtained in previous experiments. Two cases of SLG were also simulated, and the evolution of the interface and thermal fields was determined. Based on our simulation results, we conclude that SLG crystallization does not achieve steady growth because of the extremely fast heat dissipation from the substrate. To obtain very uniform electric characteristics for device fabrication, the layout design and the device position should take the SLG laser mask into consideration.

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Using a 3D numerical method, temperatures of pulsed laser annealed epi-Ge layers on SOI and bulk Si substrates are simulated. Epi-Ge is phosphorus-doped by in-situ chemical vapor deposition doping. Both the simulated melt depth and the measured sheet electron density of epi-Ge increases as the laser fluence increases. A strong positive correlation is observed between the simulated melt depth of epi-Ge and the measured sheet electron density. The sheet electron density is calculated using the temperature-dependent solid solubility, while the electron concentration for epi-Ge melted during pulsed laser annealing is assumed to be the liquid solubility of phosphorus at melting point. An intermixing between Ge and Si is observed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, when both Si and epi-Ge are melted in the simulation.