Lateral Seeding of Silicon-On-Insulator Using an Elliptical Laser Beam: A Comparison of Scanning Methods

Abstract

ABSTRACTTwo scanning methods for laterally-seeded recrystallization of striped silicon-on-insulator/seed structures with an elliptical laser beam are discussed. One method requires repeated remelting of the silicon film and is controlled by the temperature of the substrate, which is locally heated by the beam. This method results in very few defects and single-crystal silicon-on-insulator stripes up to 50 μm wide. The second method involves little remelting and is primarily controlled by the lateral offset of the beam with respect to the stripes. Single-crystal silicon-on-insulator stripes up to 40 μm wide have been obtained, with defects consisting primarily of stacking faults and twins, as well as some grain boundaries. These defects show little effect on MOS transistor leakage current.