Understanding the kinetics of Metal Induced Lateral Crystallization process to enhance the poly-Si channel quality and current conduction in 3-D NAND memory

In this paper, the kinetics of Ni metal induced lateral crystallization (MILC) in a Si channel has been thoroughly investigated. The impact of excess Ni supply, high-and-long thermal treatments, and fast ramp rate annealing on the quality of Si channel formed are reported. We show that it is possible to achieve up to 10 times higher mobility, and enhanced channel control with a controlled MILC process compared to a regular polysilicon channel.