Au-induced crystallization of non-stoichiometric amorphous silicon oxide initiated by nanosecond laser pulses

Thin films of polycrystalline silicon are widely used in semiconductor industry. One of the methods for obtaining such structures on cheap and low-melting substrates is metal-induced crystallization, since the use of a metal (for example, Au) as a catalyst during crystallization of an amorphous semiconductor allows a considerable reduction of annealing temperature. However, the typical duration of metal-induced crystallization is several tens of hours, in contrast to the method of laser-induced crystallization. In the present work, we for the first time propose to combine the advantages of the laser-induced and Au-induced crystallization methods. We have identified laser-processing modes of thin films of non-stoichiometric silicon oxide (a-SiO0.1) using nanosecond radiation with a wavelength in the infrared range which ensure the formation of polycrystalline silicon.