Combinatorial studies of switching and solid-phase crystallization in amorphous silicon

Combinatorial approaches are successfully applied for the optimization of electric write-once, thin-film Si antifuse memory devices, as well as for studying the solid-phase epitaxy kinetics of amorphous silicon on c-Si. High forward, low reverse current thin film Si diode deposition recipes are selected using cross-strips of different combinations of amorphous and microcrystalline doped layers, as well as a thickness-wedged intrinsic a-Si:H buffer layer. By studying switching in thickness-wedged a-SM layers. it is found that switching requires both a critical field and a critical bias voltage across the metallic contacts. Solid-phase epitaxy speed has a non-linear dependence on the film thickness. which is easily observed by optical image monitoring and analysis in wedged a-Si:H films on c-Si wafers.