Aluminium-induced crystallisation of amorphous silicon: parameter variation for optimisation of the process

Thin large-grained polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films can be formed on glass by aluminium-induced crystallisation (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) in an annealing process below the eutectic temperature of the Al/Si system. The influence of increasing the temperature during the anneal as well as the modification of the initial aluminium layer was investigated. In both cases similar or even larger silicon grains were achieved while reducing the process time.