The influence of Cu and Au on field aided lateral crystallization of amorphous silicon films

The effect of Cu and Au on field aided lateral crystallization (FALC) process of amorphous silicon films was investigated. Although both Cu and Au induced the crystallization of a-Si in contact with those metals, only Cu was able to induce the lateral crystallization toward a metal-free region. Especially, the crystallization caused by Cu atoms was noticeably accelerated at the edge near the negative electrode side in every pattern under the electric field, while the lateral crystallization was retarded at the positive electrode side. The crystallization velocity increased with the applied field intensity and the annealing temperature, but it decreased with the size of test pattern. However, electric field did not affect the crystallization by Au. The maximum crystallization velocity using Cu was 770 mum/h at 500 degreesC in the electric field of 4V/cm and the lateral crystallization was achieved at a temperature as low as 450 degreesC.