Crystallization of amorphous silicon films via electron beam exposure

An electron-beam-induced crystallization technique for amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films was investigated. The high-energy electron beams (e-beams) transfer their energy to the silicon network, resulting in network relaxation and crystallization. The crystalline properties of the silicon film strongly rely on the e-beam exposure time and the acceleration voltage. The crystallinity of the silicon film depends on the a-Si:H growth method used. Silicon films with higher crystallinity can be obtained from thin films deposited via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) rather than from thin films deposited via sputtering. The PECVD silicon thin film showed more than 94% crystallinity and a ∼50 nm grain size after e-beam exposure with 1500 V acceleration bias for 180 s.