Solid phase epitaxial recrystallization of thin polysilicon films amorphized by silicon ion implantation

Thin polycrystalline silicon films have been amorphized by silicon ion implantation and subsequently annealed at 525 °C for various lengths of time. Due to channeling of the ion beam through properly oriented polycrystalline grains, a few grains survived the implantation step and acted as seeds for solid phase epitaxial recrystallization of the film. This technique makes it possible to increase the grain size of thin polycrystalline films at very low temperatures.