LASER RECRYSTALLIZED SOI AND ITS APPLICATION TO THREE-DIMENSIONAL CMOS INTEGRATED CIRCUITS.

Several techniques are presented using laser beam recrystallization to obtain large-area single-crystalline silicon films over insulators (SOI). These films are a potential material for three-dimensional integration. The techniques utilize either the shaping of the laser beam or varying the power absorption of various regions of the substrate, leading to enhancement of the crystal growth mechanism of the SOI under laser irradiation. Application of SOI technologies to three-dimensional integrated circuits as well as two-dimensional ones is presented. A three-dimensional SOI/CMOS ring oscillator fabricated by laser beam recrystallization exhibits good electrical characteristics with a minimum propagation delay time approaching that of single-crystal Si devices.