Effects of doping on the kinetics of laser-induced low-temperature crystallization of amorphous silicon

Substantial effects of boron and phosphorus doping on the kinetics of laser-induced crystallization (LIC) in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) are reported. A kinetic nanoscopic electron-related LIC model that suggests predictions and explanations of observed effects of B and P doping on the LIC temperatures and crystallite size in a-Si:H is presented. The LIC is considered to be the integral effect of a huge number of nanoscale picosecond material reconstructions, each of which is generated by a nanoscopic short-lived (picosecond) large-energy fluctuation. The LIC in doped a-Si:H occurs at temperatures substantially lower than those found in the crystallization in a furnace. Crystallite size in B-doped a-Si:H is half of that in P-doped and undoped material.