Au metal-induced lateral crystallisation (MILC) of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film with very low annealing temperature and fast MILC rate

The Au metal-induced lateral crystallisation (Au-MILC) of a-Si:H film has been investigated under various crystallisation conditions. By annealing at 400/spl deg/C for 10 h, the MILC rate induced by Au can be as large as 15.9 /spl mu/m/h which is much faster than that possible with Ni and Pd. Owing to the very low annealing temperature treatment (/spl les/400/spl deg/C), the Au-MILC process represents an important technique for fabricating low cost ICs with poly-Si TFT structure on conventional glass substrate.