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Nucleation-Initiated Solidification of Thin Si Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

S. Hazair ,
P. C. van der Wilt ,
Y. Deng ,
U.-J. Chung ,
A. B. Limanov  and
James S. Im
S. Hazair
Affiliation:
sharonah97@hotmail.comColumbia UniversityProgram of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied MathematicsNew York NY 10027United States
P. C. van der Wilt
Affiliation:
pv2001@columbia.edu, Columbia University, Program of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Y. Deng
Affiliation:
yd2121@columbia.edu, Columbia University, Program of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, NY, 10027, United States
U.-J. Chung
Affiliation:
uc2111@columbia.edu, Columbia University, Program of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, NY, 10027, United States
A. B. Limanov
Affiliation:
abl24@columbia.edu, Columbia University, Program of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, NY, 10027, United States
James S. Im
Affiliation:
ji12@columbia.edu, Columbia University, Program of Materials Science, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, NY, 10027, United States
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Abstract

Thin Si films on SiO2 that are completely melted by pulsed laser irradiation cool rapidly and eventually solidify via nucleation and growth of solids. It has been observed that a variety of solidified microstructures can be obtained, depending primarily (but not exclusively) on the degree of supercooling achieved prior to the onset of nucleation. This paper focuses on investigating one particular and unusual polycrystalline microstructure that consists of “flower-like” grains, the interiors of which can be described as being made up of two distinct regions: (1) an extremely defective core region consisting of fine-grained material, and (2) an outer region consisting of relatively defect-free crystal “petals” that radiate outwards. After considering the microstructural details and experimental behavior of the microstructure, we have formulated a growth-based physical model to account for the formation of the microstructure. The model is found to be also capable of accounting for the other complex and unusual microstructures obtained via nucleation and growth in the complete melting regime.

Keywords

Sinucleation & growththin film
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 979: Symposium HH – Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Phase Transformations in Inorganic Materials , 2006 , 0979-HH11-22
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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References

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