Laser crystallization of thin films
AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorDavid J. McCulloch
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Abstract
A laser crystallization method comprises the steps of providing a film of semiconductor material on an insulating substrate, and scanning a pulsed laser beam over the film, the laser beam being shaped to define a chevron. Each pulse of the laser beam comprises at least a first pulse portion of a first energy and a second subsequent pulse portion of a second energy. The first and second pulse portions of each pulse are applied at substantially the same position over the film. This method is used to form electronic devices and enables reliable crystallization to form large single crystal areas in thin semiconductor films.
Claims9
A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising a semiconductor component having a thin film semiconductor layer provided on an insulating substrate, wherein the semiconductor layer is crystallized by scanning a pulsed laser beam over the film, the laser beam being shaped to define a chevron, each pulse of the laser beam comprising at least a first pulse portion of a first energy and a second subsequent pulse portion of a second energy, at least the first and second pulse portions of each pulse being applied at the substantially same position over the film.
A laser crystallization method for crystallizing a thin film semiconductor layer, comprising the steps of:
- providing a film of semiconductor material on an insulating substrate;
- and
- scanning a pulsed laser beam over the film, the laser beam being shaped to define a chevron, each pulse of the laser beam comprising at least a first pulse portion of a first energy and a second subsequent pulse portion of a second energy, at least the first and second pulse portions of each pulse being applied at substantially the same position over the film.
A laser crystallization device comprising:
- a pulsed laser source providing laser beam pulses;
- an optical processing system for splitting the laser beam pulses to provide output pulses having an intensity profile defining at least a first pulse portion of a first energy and a second subsequent pulse portion of a second energy;
- means for shaping the output pulses to form chevron-shaped pulses;
- and
- a projection system for projecting the chevron-shaped pulses onto a sample for crystallization.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.