Lateral Grain Growth during the Laser Interference Crystallization of a‐Si

We used laser interference (LIC), a combination of pulsed laser crystallization and holography, to fabricate polycrystalline silicon lines in an amorphous silicon (a-Si) film. Under appropriate conditions, the grains in the lines reach in-plane dimensions appreciably larger than the thickness of the initial a-Si film (up to 1.7 μm for a 300 nm a-Si film). Atomic force and transmission electron microscopy indicate that these large grains result from the lateral solidification of the silicon lines melted by the laser pulse. The lateral growth is well reproduced by simulations of the LIC dynamics by means of a two-dimensional melting and solidification model.