Rapid determination of surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon following frontside and backside excimer laser irradiation

Excimer-laser crystallization (ELC) is the most commonly employed technology for fabricating low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS). Investigations on the surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films have become an important issue because the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films is widely believed to be related to its electrical characteristics. In this study, we develop a simple optical measurement system for rapid surface roughness measurements of poly-Si thin films fabricated by frontside ELC and backside ELC. We find that the incident angle of 20° is a good candidate for measuring the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films. The surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon thin films can be determined rapidly from the reflected peak power density measured by the optical system developed using the prediction equation. The maximum measurement error rate of the optical measurement system developed is less than 9.71%. The savings in measurement time of the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films is up to 83%. The method of backside ELC is suggested for batch production of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors due to the lower surface roughness of poly-Si films and higher laser-beam utilization efficiency.