Characterization of an individual grain boundary in metal-induced laterally crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin-film devices

Author

Wang, Mingxiang ; Wong, Man

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Hong Kong Univ. of Sci. & Technol., Kowloon, China

Volume

48

Issue

8

fYear

2001

fDate

8/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1655

Lastpage

1660

Abstract

A distinct grain boundary (GB) is formed when two crystallization fronts collide in metal-induced laterally crystallized (MILC) polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films. This has been used to study carrier transport across a single dominant GB. The average number of traps per unit area is found to be about 1.6× 10¹²/cm² in this GB, significantly higher than that associated with the regular GBs in the bulk of MILC poly-Si. Though this single GB occupies a negligible fraction of the total device volume, it has been found to significantly affect both the resistance of MILC resistors and the leakage current of MILC thin-film transistors

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; grain boundaries; leakage currents; recrystallisation annealing; semiconductor thin films; silicon; thin film resistors; thin film transistors; MILC; MILC resistors; MILC thin-film transistors; Si-SiO₂; carrier transport; crystallization front collision; distinct grain boundary; individual grain boundary characterization; leakage current; metal-induced laterally crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin-film devices; polysilicon thin-film devices; resistance; Conductivity; Crystallization; Grain boundaries; Leakage current; Nickel; Resistors; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Thin film devices; Thin film transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.936584

Filename

936584