Diode characteristics in laser-recrystallized and conventional polycrystalline silicon

Diode characteristics of lateral p+pn+ structures fabricated in laser-recrystallized and non-irradiated poly-silicon have been investigated for p-doping levels ranging from 10¹⁶- 10¹⁹cm^-3. Leakage currents in laser-recrystallized material were found to be about two orders of magnitude lower than in non-irradiated material for low doping levels. At high doping levels almost no leakage current reduction was observed. An analysis of the leakage currents in terms of emission from grain boundary traps was performed and the results suggest a different mixture of thermionic emission and thermal field emission for the materials at low doping levels.