Microcrystalline silicon growth by low laser energy crystallization on a plastic substrate

We are reporting the crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) using a XeCl excimer laser treatment. Although polycarbonate (PC) plastic substrates are very weak at high temperatures of more than 150°C, they are very useful for applications to microelectronics because of light weight, high transmittance, and flexibility, In order to crystallize a-Si films on plastic substrates, we suggest that a CeO ₂ seed layer will be very helpful at a low laser energy density. The seed layer is deposited at room temperature by rf using magnetron sputtering. A seed layer deposition method will be also presented in detail in this article. We compare a-Si crytallization without a seed layer with one with a seed layer deposited between the a-Si and the plastic substrate. The a-Si was deposited on the plastic substrate by using inductively coupled plasma Chemical-Vapor Deposition (ICPCVD) at the room temperature. In this paper, we will present the crystallization properties of a-Si with and without a CeO ₂ seed layer on the plastic substrate.