Effect of Hydrogen on Secondary Grain Growth of Polycrystalline Silicon Films by Excimer Laser Annealing in Low-Temperature Process

The effect of hydrogen on the crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) by excimer laser annealing was investigated for a-Si films deposited on silicon nitride (SiN x ) films. The effect of hydrogen atoms provided from SiN x films at various hydrogen concentrations was particularly studied. As hydrogen concentration increases, the grain size of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films increases. It is found that high-quality poly-Si films are obtained at a low laser energy density by controlling the hydrogen concentration in the SiN x films and the laser energy density.