Laser‐annealing behavior of deposited and implant‐produced amorphous Si layers on Si substrates

The use of laser radiation to cause localized heating and thereby induce homoepitaxial crystallization of amorphous Si layers is discussed with regard to two application areas: 1) amorphous‐to‐crystalline conversion of deposited films as a form of epitaxial crystal growth; and 2) recrystallization of Si made amorphous by high‐dose ion‐implantation. The major issues in establishing the utility of laser‐annealing as a substitute for uniform thermal annealing in these two applications is addressed via experimental comparison of thermally annealed specimens with their counterparts subjected to either melt‐inducing or non‐melt‐inducing laser irradiation at different wavelengths. Rutherford backscattering spectra and electrical parameters of alser annealed amorphous silicon are presented. Our results suggest that the growth of polycrystallites may be a limiting process in the general application of cw laser annealing of amorphous films.