Crystallization and Melting of Amorphous Silicon on a Microsecond Time Scale

1986 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Olson ◽  
J. A. Roth ◽  
E. Nygren ◽  
A. P. Pogany ◽  
J. S. Williams

AbstractMeasurements of the competition beween solid phase epitaxy, solid phase random nucleation, and melting in amorphous Si on a microsecond time scale are reported. We find that the behavior of amorphous Si under microsecond pulsed dye laser irradiation depends strongly on film thickness and temperature. In “thin” (≲1000 Å) films solid phase epitaxy is observed at temperatures up to and exceeding 1300°C with random nucleation dominating at T>1330° C; however, melting of amorphous Si does not occur. In contrast, in “thick” (2600 Å) amorphous films melting is observed at T˜1190°C. These results are discussed with respect to measurements obtained previously in the nanosecond time regime using Q-switched laser heating and in the 0.1–1 millisecond regime using “chopped beam” cw laser heating.

1990 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Custer ◽  
Michael O. Thompson ◽  
D. J. Eaglesham ◽  
D. C. Jacobson ◽  
J. M. Poate ◽  
...  

AbstractThe competition between solid phase epitaxy and random nucleation during thermal annealing of amorphous Si implanted with the fast diffusers Cu and Ag has been studied. For low concentrations of these impurities, solid phase epitaxy proceeds with small deviations from the intrinsic rate and with the impurity remaining in the shrinking amorphous layer. At a critical metal concentration in the amorphous layer of ∼ 0.12 at.% rapid random nucleation occurs, halting epitaxy and transforming the remaining amorphous material to polycrystalline Si via grain growth. The nucleation rate is at least 8 orders of magnitude greater than the intrinsic homogeneous rate. At higher Cu concentrations nucleation is observed below the temperature needed for epitaxy (400°C). This nucleation, clearly caused by the presence of Cu or Ag in the layer, may be induced by the impurities exceeding the absolute stability concentration and starting to phase separate, leading to enhanced crystal Si nucleation in the metal rich regions.


1984 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.L. Olson ◽  
J.A. Roth ◽  
Y. Rytz-Froidevaux ◽  
J. Narayan

ABSTRACTThe temperature dependent competition between solid phase epitaxy and random crystallization in ion-implanted (As+, B+, F+, and BF2+) silicon films is investigated. Measurements of time-resolved reflectivity during cw laser heating show that in the As+, F+, and BF2+-implanted layers (conc 4×1020cm-3) epitaxial growth is disrupted at temperatures 1000°C. This effect is not observed in intrinsic films or in the B+-implanted layers. Correlation with results of microstructural analyses and computer simulation of the reflectivity experiment indicates that disruption of epitaxy is caused by enhancement of the random crystallization rate by arsenic and fluorine. Kinetics parameters for the enhanced crystallization process are determined; results are interpreted in terms of impurity-catalyzed nucleation during the random crystallization process.


1993 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 820-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.S. Custer ◽  
Michael O. Thompson ◽  
D.J. Eaglesham ◽  
D.C. Jacobson ◽  
J.M. Poate

The competition between solid phase epitaxy and random nucleation in amorphous Si implanted with Cu and Ag has been studied. At low metal concentrations, solid phase epitaxy proceeds with slight deviations from the intrinsic rate, with the impurity segregated and evenly distributed in the amorphous layer. At an impurity concentration of 0.12 at.%, rapid nucleation occurs, transforming the remaining layer into polycrystalline Si. The nucleation rate is ≥108 the intrinsic homogeneous rate. The effects of the metals on epitaxy scale with the amount of metal–Si interaction. Nucleation appears to occur when the metal impurities exceed their absolute solubility limit and begin to phase separate.


1990 ◽  
Vol 57 (13) ◽  
pp. 1340-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Roth ◽  
G. L. Olson ◽  
D. C. Jacobson ◽  
J. M. Poate

1992 ◽  
Vol 280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Parker ◽  
T. L. Hylton ◽  
K. R. Coffey ◽  
J. K. Howard

ABSTRACTA new process for the crystallization of amorphous films on chemically dissimilar substrates, solid phase heteroepitaxy (SPHE), is described. Unlike SPE in Si, it is found that the kinetics can be modeled by nucleation and multi-dimensional growth with Johnson-Mehl kinetics modified for the effects of a finite film thickness and nucleation initiated at the interface with the substrate.


1984 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuo Kunii ◽  
Michiharu Tabe ◽  
Kenji Kajiyama

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Ishiwara ◽  
H. Wakabayashi ◽  
K. Miyazaki ◽  
K. Fukao ◽  
A. Sawaoka

1997 ◽  
Vol 485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudine M. Chen ◽  
Harry A. Atwater

AbstractWith a selective nucleation and solid phase epitaxy (SNSPE) process, grain sizes of 10 μm have been achieved to date at 620°C in 100 nrm thick silicon films on amorphous SiO2, with potential for greater grain sizes. Selective nucleation occurs via a thin film reaction between a patterned array of 20 rnm thick indium islands which act as heterogeneous nucleation sites on the amorphous silicon starting material. Crystal growth proceeds by lateral solid phase epitaxy from the nucleation sites, during the incubation time for random nucleation. The largest achievable grain size by SNSPE is thus approximately the product of the incubation time and the solid phase epitaxy rate. Electronic dopants, such as B, P, and Al, are found to enhance the solid phase epitaxy rate and affect the nucleation rate.


1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (Part 2, No. 7) ◽  
pp. L513-L515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Ishiwara ◽  
Akihiro Tamba ◽  
Hiroshi Yamamoto ◽  
Seijiro Furukawa

1993 ◽  
Vol 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Braunstein ◽  
Gustavo R. Paz-Pujalt ◽  
James F. Elman

ABSTRACTWe demonstrate the heteroepitaxial growth of thin films of SrTiO3 prepared by the method of Metallo-organic decomposition on LaAlO3 substrates. The SrTiO3 films are prepared by spin coating and thermal decomposition of a solution of Metallo-organic precursors on single-crystal, <100> oriented, LaAK>3 substrates. Subsequent heat treatment at 1100 – 1200 °C for 1 h results in the epitaxial alignment of the SrTiO3 films with respect to the LaAlO3 substrate.The degree of alignment of the films appears to depend on their thickness, with thinner films showing better alignment (as determined by ion-channeling measurements). This behavior is interpreted as a result of the competition between solid-phase epitaxy and random nucleation, observed during the crystallization of films prepared by Metallo-organic decomposition. However, since thinner films have been prepared by dilution of the precursor solution, there is also the possibility that the concentration of the precursor solution may influence the crystallization behavior of the films.The potential influence of the precursor formulation on the crystallization mechanism is discussed.


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