Thermal transport in melting and recrystallization of amorphous and polycrystalline Si thin films

The liquid-solid interface motion and temperature history of thin Si films during excimer laser annealing are observed by in situ experiments combining time-resolved (~1 ns) electrical conductance, optical reflectance/transmittance at visible and near-IR wavelengths and thermal emission measurements. For laser energy densities causing partial melting, the maximum temperature remains close to the melting point of amorphous silicon (a-Si). When complete melting occurs, substantial supercooling is observed, followed by spontaneous nucleation. These phase transformations are consistent with the recrystallized poly-Si morphologies. It is also found that the melting of poly-Si occurs close to the melting point of crystalline silicon. This temperature is higher than the melting point of a-Si by about 100-150 K.