Low-temperature solid-phase crystallization of amorphous SiGe films on glass by imprint technique

Low-temperature (<500 °C) solid-phase crystallization (SPC) of amorphous Si1−xGex (x: 0–0.7) films was examined on insulating substrates by using Ni-imprint technique. Incubation time for SPC was remarkably reduced by catalytic effects without changing growth velocity. As a result, Ni-free large SiGe grains (∼4 μm) were obtained at controlled positions. The crystallinity of the grown regions was almost the same as that of poly-SiGe formed by the conventional high temperature SPC at 600 °C.