Liquid-phase explosive crystallization of electron-beam-evaporated a-Si films induced by flash lamp annealing

We succeed in the formation of micrometer-order-thick polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films through the flash-lamp-induced liquid-phase explosive crystallization (EC) of precursor a-Si films prepared by electron-beam (EB) evaporation. The velocity of the explosive crystallization (vEC) is estimated to be ∼14 m/s, which is close to the velocity of the liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) of Si at a temperature around the melting point of a-Si of 1418 K. Poly-Si films formed have micrometer-order-long grains stretched along a lateral crystallization direction, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction pattern measurements reveal that grains in poly-Si films tend to have a particular orientation. These features are significantly different from our previous results: the formation of poly-Si films containing randomly-oriented 10-nm-sized fine grains formed from a-Si films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) or sputtering. One possible reason for the emergence of a different EC mode in EB-evaporated a-Si films is the suppression of solid-phase nucleation (SPN) during Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA) due to tensile stress which precursor a-Si films originally hold. Poly-Si films formed from EB-evaporated a-Si films would contribute to the realization of high-efficiency thin-film poly-Si solar cells because of large and oriented grains.

► 3 μm-thick poly-Si films are formed by FLA through liquid-phase EC of a-Si films.
► Use of EB-evaporated a-Si films enable to induce the liquid-phase EC.
► EC speed is ∼14 m/s, close to LPE speed at the melting point of a-Si.
► Grains in poly-Si films formed have a particular orientation.
► Tensile stress in EB a-Si films can be a reason of the emergence of liquid-phase EC.