A scanning electron microscopy/transmission electron microscopy study of the photocrystallization of amorphous silicon

It has been recognized that the kinetics of crystal growth under rapid solidification conditions opens up a new regime of crystal growth. Photocrystallization of amorphous silicon leads to explosive crystallization under certain conditions. This is true for both laser and incoherent light radiation. The explosive crystallization yields three regions, i.e., a pure yellow region, a reddish brown region, and an ochre‐colored region. Till now the amorphous nature or crystallinity of the recrystallized film has been established solely by color judgment. In this communication we report on a study made by using optical, transmission electron, and scanning electron microscopy of the photocrystallized films which correlates the color changes with electron diffraction patterns. The more quantitative measurements indicate that the overwhelmingly larger optical absorption coefficient of amorphous silicon, and the presence of thin overlayers can lead to erroneous judgments of the crystallinity of the regions when made...