Method of controlling oxygen incorporation during crystallization of silicon film by excimer laser anneal in air ambient

A method of forming polycrystalline silicon film on substrates used in flat panel displays, comprising the following steps:

• a) depositing an amorphous silicon film on a substrate used in flat panel displays;
• b) providing an ambient environment for the silicon film and substrate which is predominately air at atmospheric pressure;
• c) in said ambient environment, displacing the air from a target region of the surface of the silicon film by directing inert gas onto the surface of the silicon film;
• d) while displacing the air from the target region, excimer laser annealing the amorphous silicon in the target region by irradiating the silicon film with one or more exposures to excimer laser energy;
• and
• e) repeating steps c) and d) for successive target regions of the silicon film until the amorphous silicon film on the substrate has been transformed into a polycrystalline silicon film, whereby excimer laser annealing is performed on each target region in an ambient environment which is depleted of oxygen and the oxygen content of the resultant polycrystalline silicon layer is below 0.5 atomic percent.

A method of forming polycrystalline silicon film on substrates used in flat panel displays, comprising the following steps:

• a) depositing an amorphous silicon film on a substrate used in flat panel displays;
• b) providing an ambient environment for the silicon film and substrate which is predominately air at atmospheric pressure;
• c) in said ambient environment, displacing the air from the surface of the silicon film by directing a flow of inert gas onto the surface of the silicon film;
• and
• d) excimer laser annealing the amorphous silicon by irradiating one or more target regions of the silicon film with one or more exposures to excimer laser energy to transform the amorphous silicon layer into a polycrystalline silicon layer, whereby excimer laser annealing is performed in an ambient environment which is depleted of oxygen and the oxygen content of the resultant polyciystalline silicon layer is below a predetermined level.