Crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon–carbon films by means of laser treatments

Laser annealing of hydrogenated amorphous silicon–carbon films with carbon content, x = C/(C + Si), ranging from 0.08 to 0.28, deposited on Corning glass, has been carried out by a pulsed frequency doubled Nd:YAG (532 nm) laser and a pulsed KrF excimer (248 nm) laser using a fluence of 242 mJ/cm2. The results show that the laser radiation of 532 nm induces in the samples only the growth of silicon crystallites and the degree of crystallinity decreases with increasing x. In the laser treated films at 248 nm, the degree of crystallinity is enhanced with x and cubic SiC crystallites are detectable in samples with x 0.18. Dark conductivity decreases with x for Nd:YAG laser treated films, while it is approximately constant for KrF laser treated ones. The effects of laser annealing on the crystallization process appear to be correlated with the optical properties of the as deposited films.