Excimer Laser Amorphous Silicon Film Crystallization: A Study of Time Resolved Reflectivity Measurements

Time Resolved Reflectivity during XeCl pulsed laser irradiation of amorphous silicon films deposited on glass was measured. Simulation of the process by a Heat Flow Calculation in which explosive crystallization was not forced to occur, predicts the coexistence of partial bulk nucleation and a traveling molten layer. Optical simulation of Time Resolved Reflectivity was used to critically examine the Heat Flow Calculation results, substantially confirming the existence of a mixture of thermodynamical phases.This work, was supported by Progetto Finalizzato Materiali Speciali per Tecnologie Avanzate of CNR, Italy.