Cw argon laser crystallization of silicon films: Structural properties

This paper deals with the structural characterization of amorphous silicon films deposited on glass in the amorphous state and then post-crystallized using a continuous wave argon laser. In opposite to the excimer laser crystallization method, the processing window is wider. Due to the low cooling rate induced by the continuous irradiation, very large grains are obtained. With an epitaxial growth induced by an adequate overlapping of the laser traces, grains as large as 100 μm can be reached. Electron back-scattered diffraction analysis highlights the single crystalline character of the large size grains crystallized with this kind of laser. The technique is able to produce large area single crystalline regions, suitable to fabricate high speed circuits.