Structural characterization of poly-Si Films crystallized by Ni Metal Induced Lateral Crystallization

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The growth of the poly-Si films was studied by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) after Ni Metal Induced Lateral Crystallization (Ni-MILC) of amorphous Si films at 413 °C. Significant differences in the morphology and the mode of growth of the films were observed, in comparison to films grown at temperatures above 500 °C. It was shown that at 413 °C the Solid Phase Crystallization (SPC), which acts in parallel with the Ni-MILC process at temperatures above 500 °C is suppressed. The suppression of SPC results in substantial change in the mode of growth. The poly-Si film grown at 413 °C consists of whiskers, which can be classified into two categories. Those growing fast along the <111> direction, which were already observed in conventional Ni-MILC above 500 °C and whiskers grown along random crystallographic orientations having significantly slower growth rates. Because of the large difference in growth rates of the whiskers, significant orientation filtering due to growth-velocity competition is observed. The uniform poly-Si films consist of a mixture of fast <111> type whiskers and slow ones, grown in other orientations, resulting in a tweed-like structure.