Dopant-dependence of one-step metal-induced dopant activation process in silicon

Abstract We investigate dopant-dependence of low temperature dopant activation technique in α-Si featuring one-step metal-induced crystallization (MIC) to decrease resistivity of p+ and n+ Si films by forming NixSiy. Ni not only crystallizes p-type α-Si film but also facilitates activation of boron atoms in the α-Si during the crystallization at 500 °C. However, phosphorus atoms are poorly activated because of the suppressed Ni-MIC rate in n-type α-Si. Finally, p+/n and n+/p junction diodes are demonstrated on single crystalline Si substrates by the low temperature dopant activation technique promising for high performance TFTs as well as transistors with an elevated S/D.