Biaxially Textured Al Film Growth on CaF2 Nanostructures toward a Method of Preparing Single-Crystalline Si Film on Glass Substrates

We report the room temperature growth of biaxially textured Al films and further demonstrate the use of these Al films in preparing single-crystalline Si layers on glass substrates. The formation of the biaxial texture in Al film relies on the existence of the CaF2 buffer layer prepared using oblique angle physical vapor deposition, which consists of single-crystalline nanorods with caps that are in the form of inverted nanopyramids. The single-crystalline Si film was obtained upon crystallization of the amorphous Si film deposited through physical evaporation on the biaxially textured Al film. This method of preparing single-crystalline Si film on glass substrate is potentially attractive for being employed in silicon technology and in fabrication of low-cost electronic devices.