Laser-assisted transfer of silicon by explosive hydrogen release

We present a technique for the transfer of silicon thin films. This transfer is effected by irradiating a hydrogenated amorphous silicon film deposited on a quartz substrate with an excimer laser pulse. The resulting release and accumulation of hydrogen at the film/substrate interface generates pressures sufficient to propel the silicon onto an adjacent glass receptor wafer. Transient optical transmission measurements indicate that the amorphous film is melted by the laser pulse and breaks into droplets during ejection. For fluences above 400 mJ/cm(2), the transferred films adhere well to the receptors and can be smoothed using a second laser irradiation. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)02315-3].