Ex situ ellipsometry characterization of excimer laser annealed amorphous silicon thin films grown by low pressure chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

Spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to monitor excimer laser annealed thin ( ∼ 100 nm) amorphous silicon (a-Si) films grown on quartz substrates by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The peak position of the imaginary part of the complex dielectric function ∈2 was used to determine the degree of crystallization of the a-Si. The amplitude of ∈2 at the Si E1 transition energy is found to be a good indicator of the polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) grain size after laser annealing with good correlation between ex situ ellipsometric data and poly-Si grain sizes being observed. Spectroscopic ellipsometry provides a contactless, nondestructive, and simple technique for monitoring laser annealing both in situ during the annealing process or ex situ after annealing. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.