Single scan irradiation for crystallization of thin films
First Claim
1. A method of processing a selected region of a film on a substrate in a single scan, comprising:
- generating a plurality of laser beam pulses;
directing the plurality of laser beam pulses through a mask to generate a plurality of patterned laser beams;
irradiating a portion of a selected region of a film with one of the plurality of patterned beams, said beam having an intensity that is sufficient to melt the irradiated portion of the film, wherein the irradiated portion of the film crystallizes upon cooling, moving the film along a first translation pathway and moving the mask along a second translation pathway while successive portions of the selected region are irradiated with patterned beams, such that the selected region of the film is substantially completely crystallized in a single traversal of the patterned beams over the selected region of the film.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of processing a polycrystalline film on a substrate includes generating a plurality of laser beam pulses, positioning the film on a support capable of movement in at least one direction, directing the plurality of laser beam pulses through a mask to generate patterned laser beams; each of said beams having a length l′, a width w′ and a spacing between adjacent beams d′, irradiating a region of the film with the patterned beams, said beams having an intensity that is sufficient to melt an irradiated portion of the film to induce crystallization of the irradiated portion of the film, wherein the film region is irradiated n times; and after irradiation of each film portion, translating either the film or the mask, or both, a distance in the x- and y-directions, where the distance of translation in the y-direction is in the range of about 1′/n-δ, where δ is a value selected to form overlapping the beamlets from the one irradiation step to the next, and where the distance of translation in the x-direction is selected such that the film is moved a distance of about λ′ after n irradiations, where λ′=w′+d′.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of processing a selected region of a film on a substrate in a single scan, comprising:
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generating a plurality of laser beam pulses;
directing the plurality of laser beam pulses through a mask to generate a plurality of patterned laser beams;
irradiating a portion of a selected region of a film with one of the plurality of patterned beams, said beam having an intensity that is sufficient to melt the irradiated portion of the film, wherein the irradiated portion of the film crystallizes upon cooling, moving the film along a first translation pathway and moving the mask along a second translation pathway while successive portions of the selected region are irradiated with patterned beams, such that the selected region of the film is substantially completely crystallized in a single traversal of the patterned beams over the selected region of the film. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of processing a film on a substrate, comprising:
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generating a plurality of laser beam pulses;
directing the plurality of laser beam pulses through a mask to generate a plurality of patterned laser beams;
each of said patterned beams having a length l′
, a width w′ and
a spacing between adjacent patterned beams d′
;
irradiating a portion of a region of the film with one of the plurality of patterned beams, said beam having an intensity that is sufficient to melt the irradiated portion of the film, wherein the irradiated portion of the film crystallizes upon cooling; and
repositioning the patterned beam a distance in the y-direction in the range of about l′
/n-δ
from the one irradiation pulse to the next, where δ
is a value selected to form overlapping patterned beams; and
repositioning the patterned beam a distance in the x-direction of about k′
over a selected number of irradiation pulses, n, where λ
′
=w′
+d′
. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A device comprising a polycrystalline thin film transistor comprising:
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a polycrystalline thin film having a grain structure that is periodic in at least one direction; and
a thin film transistor portion located on the film and tilted with respect to the periodic structure of the thin film, such that the number of long grain boundaries in any of said portions remains substantially uniform, and such that the thin film transistor portion is aligned with the x,y-axes of the thin film substrate.
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33. A device comprising a polycrystalline thin film, comprising:
a polycrystalline thin film having elongated crystal grains separated by location-controlled grain boundaries, the elongation-controlled grain boundaries tilted at an angle θ
with respect to an axis of the thin film substrate, wherein θ
is greater than 0° and
ranges up to about 45°
.
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34. A system for processing a film on a substrate, comprising:
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a laser for generating a plurality of laser beam pulses;
a film support for positioning a film that is capable of movement in at least one direction;
a mask support that is capable of movement in at least two orthogonal directions;
optics for directing the plurality of laser beam pulses through a mask to generate patterned laser beams;
optics for directing the patterned beams onto a region of a film; and
,a controller for controlling the movement of the film support and mask support in conjunction with frequency of laser beam pulses.
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Specification