Advanced technique to grow single crystal films on amorphous and/or non-single crystal surfaces

Abstract

A method for producing a pattern of regularly spaced-apart nucleation sites and corresponding devices are disclosed. The method enables formation of a device having an amorphous or otherwise non-single crystal surface from which single crystal layers of a desired orientation may be grown using the regularly spaced nucleation sites as a growth template. The method can be used to produce a single crystal semiconductor layer of a desired orientation (e.g., <100> or <111>) on an amorphous insulating layer (e.g. of SiO.sub.2 or Si.sub.3 N.sub.4). For example, single crystal Si of a <100> orientation may be grown on an SiO.sub.2 layer. Monocrystalline semiconductor films may be similarly grown on amorphous glass substrates or the like for producing solar cells of high efficiency and low cost. The pattern of regularly spaced-apart nucleation sites may be created by high-dose implantation of a nucleating species through a single crystal mask having appropriate channeling directions spaced at desired lattice constants. Subsequent to creation of spaced-apart nucleation sites, monocrystals such as that of silicon may be epitaxially grown from the surface that has the regularly spaced-apart nucleation sites.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.