Substrate Damage Prevention and Simultaneous ZMR in Stacked SOI Layers

This letter describes a multilayer structure which has successfully been used for recrystallization of thin polycrystalline silicon films on silicon dioxide, preventing at the same time the formation of thermal misfit dislocations in the underlying silicon substrate. A CO2 laser beam having a round spot with a Gaussian intensity distribution was used in the zone-melting process which resulted in a simultaneous recrystallization of two levels of polysilicon. The lower silicon film is of good crystalline quality and of significantly improved flatness.