Nanostructure tailoring of material properties using controlled crystallization

A method for converting at least a portion of an amorphous semiconductor film to a crystallized state, said method providing reduced stress levels in said semiconductor film, said method comprising the steps of:

• depositing an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate at a temperature which assures as a result of said depositing a presence of voids in said film;
• and
• subjecting said amorphous semiconductor film to an annealing process to crystallize at least a portion of said amorphous silicon film, said voids present in said amorphous semiconductor film enabling stress relaxation in the crystallized portion.

A method for crystallizing at least a portion of an amorphous semiconductor film to a crystallized state, and for further adjusting a level of residual tensile stress in said film comprising the steps of:

• treating at least a portion of said amorphous semiconductor film with a nucleating site material that is chosen to cause a shift of the first order Raman peak of a resulting crystalline portion of said film, after being subjected to an annealing process;
• and
• subjecting said amorphous silicon film to an annealing process to crystallize said at least a portion of said amorphous silicon film, said shift of said Raman peak indicating an adjustment of the residual tensile stress in said portion of said film that is crystallized.

A method for enhancing optical absorption properties of a crystalline silicon film, comprising the steps of:

• providing said crystalline silicon film on a substrate;
• implanting ions in said crystalline silicon film to influence the optical absorption properties of said film, said implanting controlled to assure that species are implanted in said film at a dose to assure continued crystallinity of said film, said dose in excess of about 10.sup.12 /cm.sup.2 but less than about 10.sup.15 /cm.sup.2.