Laser crystallized polysilicon TFT's using LPCVD, PECVD and PVD silicon channel materials - A comparative study

In this work polysilicon TFT's were fabricated by excimer laser crystallization of active channel silicon which was deposited by three different methods: 1) LPCVD at 550 degrees C; 2) PECVD at 225 degrees C; and 3) PVD at room temperature. CMOS devices were produced with the same low temperature (less than 600 degrees C) top gate process and the laser anneal condition was optimized for the material type and thickness. For PECVD material a pre-anneal step of 450 degrees C for 1 hour was required before crystallization to avoid bubbling and ablation due to hydrogen evolution, but no such anneal was required for either LPCVD or PVD material due to their low hydrogen and Ar content. For 50 nm films, laser energy densities were typically in the range of 300-400 mJ/cm(2). Excellent device results were obtained for both LPCVD and PECVD material with n-channel field effect mobilities greater than 100 cm(2)/Vs and on/off Patios greater than 10(8) at 5 V drain bias. Good results were also obtained for PVD films that can be further improved by optimizing deposition and anneal conditions. In moving toward very low temperature polysilicon processing (less than 230 degrees C) both PECVD and PVD channel films appear to be viable candidates.