Microstructural improvement in polycrystalline Si films by crystallizing with vapor transport of Al/Ni chlorides

We developed a vapor induced crystallization (VIC) process for the first time to obtain high quality polycrystalline Si films by sublimating the mixture of $AlCl_3$ and $NiCl_2$. The VIC process enhanced the crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films. The LPCVD amorphous silicon thin films were completely crystallized after 5 hours at 480 $^{\circ}C$. It is known that needle-like grains with very small width grow in the Ni-metal induced lateral crystallization. In our new method, the width of grains is larger because the grain can also grow perpendicular to the needle growth direction. Also the interface between the merging grain boundaries was coherent. As the results, a polycrystalline film with superior microstructure has been obtained.