Hameed A. Naseem - Fayetteville AR, US Marwan Albarghouti - Loudonville NY, US
Assignee:
The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas - Little Rock AR
International Classification:
H01L 21/20 H01L 29/76
US Classification:
438486, 257 66
Abstract:
An oxide or nitride layer is provided on an amorphous semiconductor layer prior to performing metal-induced crystallization of the semiconductor layer. The oxide or nitride layer facilitates conversion of the amorphous material into large grain polycrystalline material. Hence, a native silicon dioxide layer provided on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), followed by deposited Al permits induced crystallization at temperatures far below the solid phase crystallization temperature of a-Si. Solar cells and thin film transistors can be prepared using this method.