Growth kinetics and polysilicon formation by aluminium-induced crystallization on glass-ceramic substrates

Abstract

In this work, we present extended structural properties of poly-Si thin films fabricated by aluminium-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) on high-temperature glass-ceramic substrates. The silicon nucleation kinetics on glass-ceramic substrates was investigated by optical microscopy. The crystalline quality of the films was studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy as a function of exchange annealing conditions. By means of electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD), we have analyzed the effect of thermal annealing on silicon grain size and its distribution, intra- and inter-grains defects, and on the grains preferential crystallographic orientation. The optimal thermal annealing condition, allowing 100% crystallized polysilicon large grains with an average grain size of 26 mu m and aOE (c) 100 > oriented, acquired a thermal budget of 475A degrees C and 8 h.