• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.160-165
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• 2001

The effects of various metals on Field Aided Lateral Crystallization (FALC) behaviors of amorphous silicon (a-Si) were investigated. Under an influence of electric field, metals such s Cu, Ni and Co were found to fasten the lateral crystallization toward a metal-free region, exhibiting a typical FALC behavior while the lateral crystallization of a-Si was not obvious for Pd. However, Au, Al and Cr did not induce the lateral crystallization of a-Si in metal-free region. Such phenomenological differences in various metals were studied in terms of dominant diffusing species (DDS) in the reaction between metal and Si. It was judged that the applied electric field enhanced the crystallization velocity by accelerating the diffusion of metal atoms since the occurrence of lateral crystallization would be strongly dependent on the diffusion of metal atoms than that of Si atoms. Therefore, it was concluded that he only metal-dominant diffusing species in the reaction between metal and Si results in the crystallization of a-Si in metal-free region.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.210-214
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• 2002

The crystallization behavior of amorphous silicon (a-Si) film was investigated by using Cu-field aided lateral crystallization (Cu-FALC) process below $450^{\circ}C$. The lateral crystallization was induced from the Cu deposited region outside of pattern toward the Cu-free region inside of the pattern by applying an electric field during heat treatment. As expected, the lateral crystallization toward Cu-free region proceeded from negative toward positive electrode side. The occurrence of Cu-FALC phenomenon was interpreted in terms of dominant diffusing species in the reaction between Cu and Si. Even at the annealing temperature of $350^{\circ}C$, the large dendrite-shaped branches were formed in the crystallized region and the polarity in the lateral crystallization was clearly observed. Consequently, we could successfully crystallize the a-Si at the temperature as low as $350^{\circ}C$ by an electric field of 30 V/cm with fast crystallization velocity of 12 $\mu$m/h.