Crystallization mechanisms in laser irradiated thin amorphous silicon films

Structural properties of thin polycrystalline silicon films, crystallized by single shot excimer laser annealing at different laser energy densities, have been investigated. Formation of disk structures has been observed in a wide range of energy densities, from complete melting down to 180 mj/cm(2). These structures have been correlated to the lateral growth of grains starting from the small grains present in the central regions of the disks. We propose a new crystallization scenario for energy densities below the complete melting. In this framework, the recalescence effect plays an important role while the super lateral growth-regime is no longer a particular crystallization condition but simply represents the upper energy density limit of partial melt crystallization regime.