Very thin (25–50-nm-thick) amorphous silicon (a-Si) films were crystallized into polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) films by the combination of low temperature solid phase crystallization (SPC) and subsequent excimer laser annealing (ELA). These films are, then, subjected to a standard low temperature process (<600 °C) of thin film transistor (TFT) fabrication. The performance of resultant TFTs was compared to those fabricated on polysilicon films obtained by simple excimer laser annealing of amorphous silicon films. The electrical characteristics of the TFTs were correlated with the structural characteristics of the polysilicon films, using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction as analytical tools. The polysilicon films obtained by the SPC process consist of large and heavily defected crystalline grains. These defects, however, could be eliminated by melting and solidifying the polysilicon films during the ELA process. As a result, the electrical properties of the 50-nm-thick polysilicon film subjected to SPC+ELA process improved dramatically when the laser energy density was between 280 and 360 mJ cm−2. The SPC+ELA method did not work successfully for the 25-nm-thick films due to the instability of the laser energy density. Hillock formation at the grain boundaries during the ELA process is also discussed in this article.

Articles you may be interested inImproving the quality factor of polycrystalline Si thin-film micromechanical resonators by metal-induced lateral crystallization using biomineralized Ni nanoparticles Transmission electron microscopy observations of Cu-induced directional crystallization of amorphous silicon J. Appl. Phys. 98, 114911 (2005); 10.1063/1.2139835 Dopant and thickness dependence of metal-induced lateral crystallization of amorphous silicon films Low temperature metal induced crystallization of amorphous silicon using a Ni solution

Thin SiO2 oxides implanted by very-low-energy (1 keV) Si ions and subsequently annealed are explored with regards to their potential as active elements of memory devices. Charge storage effects as a function of Si fluence are investigated through capacitance and channel current measurements. Capacitance–voltage and source–drain current versus gate voltage characteristics of devices implanted with a dose of 1×1016 cm−2 or lower exhibit clear hysteresis characteristics at low electric field. The observed fluence dependence of the device electrical properties is interpreted in terms of the implanted oxide structure.

No abstract

The structure and the morphology of crystallized amorphous silicon (α-Si) films which were deposited on glass and annealed in a conventional furnace or by rapid thermal process (RTP) are studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ellipsoidal shape of the grains is attributed to the fast solid-state crystallization along the two mutually perpendicular 〈112〉 and 〈110〉 crystallographic directions. The growth is solely based on the twin formation. The stability of the microtwins was studied by RTP and in situ TEM heating experiments. The effect of the film thickness on the preferred orientation of the grains is discussed. Very thin films exhibit (111) preferred orientation due to the strongly anisotropic rate of growth of the nuclei, which imposes an orientation filtering due to a growth velocity competition. The mode of growth of these films is compared with poly-Si films grown by low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition.