Excluding grain boudaries from thin Si film MEMS/NEMS devices

Positions of the crystallized areas in a polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) film were controlled by metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC) using Ni nanoparticles (NPs) accommodated within apoferritin supramolecules. The Ni NPs reacted with amorphous Si film to produce Ni silicide. The Ni silicide promoted crystallization of the amorphous Si film. The obtained poly-Si films were fabricated to make cantilever oscillators. Resonant characteristics of the oscillators depended on the crystallized structures of the poly-Si film. Compared to the oscillator made of poly-Si film without MILC, the oscillator made of the poly-Si film with position-controlled MILC achieved 1.6 folds increases in Q factor.