Orientation control of the silicon film on insulator by laser recrystallization

Abstract

We have studied the influence of the growth direction and the solidification speed on crystal quality of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) film by laser recrystallization. In a 〈100〉 direction on a {100} Si substrate, lateral epitaxial growth of single-crystal regions from a seed extended as much as 1 mm. It was found that the crystalline orientation of the SOI film changes continuously from {100} toward {110}. These results indicated that the quality of the SOI film is strongly affected by the crystallographic arrangement of the growth front relative to the composition of {111} faceted planes. A new recrystallization method for large area SOI films was developed by stabilizing the growth front.