Laser recrystallization of Si over SiO2 with a heat-sink structure

Abstract

Complete single crystalline silicon films over SiO2 have been produced with a heat-sink structure designed for best utilization of temperature gradients during resolidification process induced by an incident cw Ar laser beam. The structure includes device regions with thin SiO2 layers which act as a heat sink to the substrate and the peripheral regions with thick SiO2 layers. By using this technique, residual grain boundaries in the laser recrystallized silicon over insulator can be eliminated. N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors fabricated in the recrystallized silicon films with a heat-sink structure exhibit good device characteristics, having a surface electron mobility of 500 cm2/V s which is comparable to that of bulk devices.