Shape of grain size distributions during crystal grain nucleation in a-Si

The solid phase crystallization of chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon films onto oxidized silicon wafers, induced by rapid thermal annealing has been extensively investigated. The morphological evolution of the amorphous towards the polycrystalline phase is investigated by transmission electron microscopy and it is interpreted in terms of a physical model containing few free parameters related to the thermodynamical properties of amorphous silicon and to the kinetic mechanisms of crystal grain growth at the early stages of transformation.