Nano-aluminum-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon

This paper reports the successful fabrication of smooth, polycrystalline silicon films with very large crystallites produced by nanometer thick aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and the effect of annealing temperature ramp up time on grain size. The study shows that, compared to traditional AIC, nano-AIC produces much smoother polycrystalline silicon films with very large crystallites. In addition, unlike traditional AIC, the grain sizes produced by nano-AlC increase considerably with annealing temperature ramp-up time.