Method of manufacturing polycrystalline silicon thin film

Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a first scanning laser beam on a plurality of first unit regions on the amorphous silicon thin film at a pitch which is not greater than a width in a scanning direction of an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and at least one second step of laser beam radiation comprising irradiating a second scanning laser beam having an energy density lower than that of the first scanning laser beam, on a plurality of second unit regions on the previously scanned amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out, at a pitch which is not greater than a width in a scanning direction of an area defined by the beam size of the second scanning laser beam, each of said second unit regions being shifted from the respective first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step, so that at least a part of each of the second unit regions irradiated and scanned in the at least one second step overlaps a part of corresponding first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step.

Claim 2

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a first scanning laser beam on a plurality of first unit regions on the amorphous silicon thin film at a pitch which is not greater than a width in a scanning direction of an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and at least one second step of laser beam radiation comprising irradiating a second scanning laser beam having an energy density lower than that of the first scanning laser beam, on a plurality of second unit regions on the previously scanned amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out, at a pitch which is not greater than a width in a scanning direction of an area defined by the beam size of the second scanning laser beam, each of said second unit regions being shifted from the respective first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step, so that at least a part of each of the second unit regions irradiated and scanned in the at least one second step overlaps a part of corresponding first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step.

Claim 16

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times, so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a scanning laser beam on a plurality of unit regions at substantially the same scanning pitch width as an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and a plurality of steps of laser beam radiation from a second step onward comprising for each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation irradiating a second scanning laser beam having the same beam size as that of the first scanning laser beam at a scanning pitch which has a width which is smaller than an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam, on the amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out.

Claim 17

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times, so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a scanning laser beam on a plurality of unit regions at substantially the same scanning pitch width as an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and a plurality of steps of laser beam radiation from a second step onward comprising for each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation irradiating a second scanning laser beam having the same beam size as that of the first scanning laser beam at a scanning pitch which has a width which is smaller than an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam, on the amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out.

Claim 19

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times, so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a scanning laser beam on a plurality of first unit regions at a scanning pitch which has a width in a scanning direction which is smaller than an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and a plurality of steps of laser beam radiation from a second step onward comprising for each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation irradiating a second scanning laser beam on a plurality of second unit regions on the amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out, at a scanning pitch which has a width which is smaller than an area defined by a beam size of the laser beam in each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation, each of said second unit regions being shifted from the regions of the previous laser beam radiation, so that at least a part of said each of the second unit regions in each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation overlaps a part of corresponding first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step.

Claim 20

A method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon thin film, in which a scanning laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon thin film a plurality of times, so as to convert the amorphous silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising: a first laser beam radiation step comprising irradiating a scanning laser beam on a plurality of first unit regions at a scanning pitch which has a width in a scanning direction which is smaller than an area defined by the beam size of the first scanning laser beam; and a plurality of steps of laser beam radiation from a second step onward comprising for each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation irradiating a second scanning laser beam on a plurality of second unit regions on the amorphous silicon thin film on which the first laser beam radiation step was carried out, at a scanning pitch which has a width which is smaller than an area defined by a beam size of the laser beam in each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation, each of said second unit regions being shifted from the regions of the previous laser beam radiation, so that at least a part of said each of the second unit regions in each of said plurality of steps of laser beam radiation overlaps a part of corresponding first unit regions irradiated and scanned in the first laser beam radiation step.