EP0390608A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method for forming semiconductor thin-film and resulting semiconductor thin-film
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1990-03-30
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-03-30
Abstract
Abstract Polycrystalline silicon thin-films having a large grain size are formed by preparing a substrate of amorphous surface comprising first regions containing tin atoms at a higher content and second regions containing tin atoms at a lower content or not substantially containing them, and then heat-treating the substrate to grow crystal grains from crystal nuclei formed only in the first regions.
Inventors
- 👤 Takao Yonehara
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 04:31
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; H10P14/24; H10P14/29; H10P14/2901; H10P14/2922; H10P14/34; H10P14/3402; H10P14/3404; H10P14/3411; H10P14/3451; H10P14/3452; H10P14/3458; H10P14/38; H10P14/3802; H10P14/3806; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S117/00; Y10S117/913; Y10S148/00; Y10S148/003
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
24 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising heat-treating an amorphous silicon thin-film containing tin (Sn) to cause crystal growth in a solid phase.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
24 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising heat-treating an amorphous silicon thin-film containing tin (Sn) to cause crystal growth in a solid phase.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein the amorphous silicon thin-film contains tin in an amount of from 1 × 10¹⁵ atom/cm³ to 1 × 10²² atom/cm³.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of Claim 1 wherein the amorphous silicon thin-film is heat-treated at a temperature of not higher than 650°C.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
10 words
A semiconductor thin-film, prepared by the method of Claim 1.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein the amorphous silicon thin-film comprises a first region containing tin and a second region not containing tin.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of Claim 5, wherein the first region contains tin in an amount of from 1 x 10¹⁵ atom/cm³ to 1 × 10²² atom/cm³.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of Claim 5, wherein the second region contains tin in an amount of less than 10⁻² times the content in the first region.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
A semiconductor thin-film, comprising a substrate, and a polycrystalline Si semiconductor thin-film provided on the substrate and containing Sn in an amount of from 1 × 10¹⁵ atom/cm³ to 1 × 10²² atom/cm³.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
A semiconductor thin-film, comprising a substrate, and a polycrystalline Si semiconductor thin-film provided on the substrate and containing Sn in an amount of from 1 × 10¹⁵ atom/cm³ to 1 × 10²² atom/cm³.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
13 words
The semiconductor thin-film of Claim 8, wherein the substrate comprises a non-single-crystalline material.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
46 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising forming on a substrate an amorphous Si semiconductor thin-film containing added Sn, heat-treating the thin-film at a temperature of not higher than the melting point thereof to cause crystallization to form a semiconductor thin-film constituted of polycrystalline Si.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
46 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising forming on a substrate an amorphous Si semiconductor thin-film containing added Sn, heat-treating the thin-film at a temperature of not higher than the melting point thereof to cause crystallization to form a semiconductor thin-film constituted of polycrystalline Si.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of Claim 10, wherein the amorphous Si semiconductor thin-film contains tin in an amount of from 1 × 10¹⁵ atom/cm³ to 1 × 10²² atom/cm³.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
69 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising providing, in an amorphous silicon thin-film, an Sn-added region to which tin (Sn) is added for forming crystal nuclei on heat-treatment, heat-treating the amorphous silicon thin-film at a temperature below the melting point of the amorphous silicon thin-film, and allowing crystal to grow in a solid phase from the crystal nuclei formed in the Sn-added region to form a semiconductor thin-film.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
69 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising providing, in an amorphous silicon thin-film, an Sn-added region to which tin (Sn) is added for forming crystal nuclei on heat-treatment, heat-treating the amorphous silicon thin-film at a temperature below the melting point of the amorphous silicon thin-film, and allowing crystal to grow in a solid phase from the crystal nuclei formed in the Sn-added region to form a semiconductor thin-film.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of Claim 12, wherein the Sn-added region is sufficiently minute for crystal so as to form only a nucleus from which a single crystal is grown.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of Claim 12, wherein the heat treatment is conducted at a temperature which allows crystal growth from the nucleus formed in the Sn-added region in the solid phase but does not allow formation of a neucleus outside the Sn-added region.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of Claim 12, wherein the amorphous silicon thin-film contains tin (Sn) outside the Sn-added region in a concentration lower than the tin content of the Sn-added region.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
10 words
A semiconductor thin-film formed by the method of Claim 12.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
110 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising providing, at a desired position of amorphous Si film containing tin (Sn), a region having a sufficiently minite area so as to form only one nucleus from which a single crystal is grown and having a higher Sn-atom density than other region in the amorphous Si film; heat-treating the amorphous Si film at such a temperature that crystal grows from the single nucleus in the minute region and no crystal nucleus is formed in the other region of the amorphous Si film; and allowing crystal to grow in a solid state in the amorphous Si film on the base of the crystal.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
110 words
A method for forming a semiconductor thin-film, comprising providing, at a desired position of amorphous Si film containing tin (Sn), a region having a sufficiently minite area so as to form only one nucleus from which a single crystal is grown and having a higher Sn-atom density than other region in the amorphous Si film; heat-treating the amorphous Si film at such a temperature that crystal grows from the single nucleus in the minute region and no crystal nucleus is formed in the other region of the amorphous Si film; and allowing crystal to grow in a solid state in the amorphous Si film on the base of the crystal.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of Claim 17, wherein the amorphous Si film comprising a region having a higher Sn-atom density is formed by first ion implantation over the entire surface of a polycrystalline Si film to make the polycrystalline Si film amorphous, and by subsequent second ion implantation only to the minute region.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
78 words
The method of Claim 18, wherein the amorphous Si film is formed on a substrate material; the first ion implantation is conducted with a higher energy so that the projection range having the maximum concentration of implanted ion comes to the interface between the substrate material and the amorphous Si film; and the second ion implantation is conducted with a lower energy so that the projection range reaches the middle of the thickness of the amorphous Si film.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
24 words
The method of any one of Claims 17 to 19, wherein the region having the higher Sn-atom density is provided in a single number.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
22 words
The method of any one of Claims 17 to 19, wherein the region having the higher Sn-atom density is provided in plurality.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
10 words
A semiconductor thin-film formed by the method of Claim 17.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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