High-performance polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors fabricated by high-temperature process with excimer laser annealing

Polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated using a high-temperature process that included solid-phase crystallization (SPC) and dry thermal oxidation with excimer laser annealing (ELA). X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses showed that the ELA process improved the quality of p-Si films markedly. The p-Si TFTs exhibited a higher performance than the SPC and a-Si+ELA p-Si TFTs. The field-effect mobility for n-type self-aligned TFTs was 251 cm(2).V-1 (.)s(-1). The longitudinal junction diffusion length of the p-Si TFTs was shorter than that of the SPC p-Si TFTs. This is favorable for fine design rules. This fabrication process is consistent with the high-temperature-processed p-Si TFT development trend towards using large substrates, low temperatures, and fine design rules.