CW argon-laser induced zone-melting recrystallization of thin silicon on oxide.

Silicon on insulator (SOI) technologies offer significant possibilities for high-speed and high-density integrated circuit applications. Single-crystal silicon islands of 50 mym width and 165 mym length have been successfully obtained by a combination of seeding altered capping layers. No grain boundaries and no subgrain boundaries were observed in the island etched with Secco etchant. The recrystallized film had the same <100> crystal orientation as the silicon substrate. The layers were smooth on the surface. The silicon recrystallization obtained with a CW argon laser is described, and two types of seeding structures are compared. The mechanisms of the single-crystal seeding growth of these structures are discussed. p-channel depletion MOSFET's with L=10 mym and w=40 mym were fabricated in the recrystallized film. The I sub D - V sub D characteristics of the devices were excellent. The surface hole mobility was calculated to be 170 square cm/V s, the same as for devices fabricated i n bulk single crystal. (AIS-B)