Excimer laser crystallization of amorphous silicon on molybdenum coated glass substrates

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films on molybdenum coated glass substrates were crystallized using a XeCl excimer laser. Structural information on the resulting polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films was obtained from scanning electron microscopy and electron backscattering diffraction measurements. The average grain size varies with laser fluence. The maximum average grain size in the super lateral growth energy-density range is considerably smaller for poly-Si on Mo coated substrates than for poly-Si on quartz. In addition, the metal layer affects the laser fluence necessary to achieve super lateral growth. Samples crystallized under super lateral growth conditions show a preferential surface orientation along the {111} direction. Intermixing of Mo and silicon is not observed. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.