Orientation control of the silicon film on insulator by laser recrystallization

We have studied the influence of the growth direction and the solidification speed on crystal quality of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) film by laser recrystallization. In a 〈100〉 direction on a {100} Si substrate, lateral epitaxial growth of single-crystal regions from a seed extended as much as 1 mm. It was found that the crystalline orientation of the SOI film changes continuously from {100} toward {110}. These results indicated that the quality of the SOI film is strongly affected by the crystallographic arrangement of the growth front relative to the composition of {111} faceted planes. A new recrystallization method for large area SOI films was developed by stabilizing the growth front.