Effect of an alternating magnetic field on metal-induced lateral crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

Abstract

We propose a, novel method that applies an alternating magnetic field during crystallization annealing in an alternating magnetic field crystallization (AMFC) system for lowering the process temperature of metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC). We think that the enhanced crystallization is associated with the electric field generated by the magnetic field inside the solenoid coil in the AMFC system. Thus, we investigated the MILC rate by using various coil currents to change the magnetic field. We confirmed that the processing temperature of MILC was reduced to under 510 degreesC and that the MILC rate was accelerated with increasing alternating magnetic field. We conclude that migration of the NiSi2 phase toward the amorphous Si region may be enhanced by the alternating magnetic field.