Self Organized Grain Growth Larger than 1 µm through Pulsed-Laser-Induced Melting of Silicon Films

Large-grain growth (>1 µm) was observed through pulsed-laser-induced melting of silicon films. When silicon islands with a width of 10 µm and a thickness of 70 nm formed on a quartz substrate were melted completely by irradiation of a XeCl excimer laser with an energy of 360 mJ/cm2, the shape of the film was changed into a globular shape. The width shrank to 2.4 µm and the film thickness increased to 270 nm near the edge. Large grains with a size of 1.2 µm were grown and grains were lined two deep in the globular islands. The large-grain growth occurs along a temperature gradient in the lateral direction, which is caused during the change of the film shape.