Process and system for laser crystallization processing of film regions on a substrate to provide substantial uniformity within arears in such regions and edge areas thereof, and a structure of film regions
First Claim
1. A method for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- (a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a first plurality of beamlets and a second plurality of beamlets, the first and second plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) irradiating a particular portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the first beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt first areas of the particular portion, the first areas being at least partially melted, leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize; and
(d) after step (c), irradiating the particular portion with the second beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt second areas of the particular portion, the second areas being at least partially melted, leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize, wherein the first irradiated and re-solidified areas and the second irradiated and resolidified areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one section of the film sample, and wherein the first areas correspond to first pixels, and the second areas correspond to second pixels.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process and system for processing a thin film sample, as well as the thin film structure are provided. In particular, a beam generator can be controlled to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate. Each irradiation beam pulse may be masked to define a first plurality of beamlets and a second plurality of beamlets. The first and second plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the section of the film sample. A particular portion of the section of the film sample is irradiated with the first beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt first areas of the particular portion, the first areas being at least partially melted, leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize. After the irradiation of the particular portion with the first beamlets, the particular portion is again irradiated with the second beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt second areas of the particular portion, the second areas being at least partially melted, leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize. The first irradiated and re-solidified areas and the second irradiated and re-solidified areas are intermingled with one another within the section of the film sample. In addition, the first areas correspond to first pixels, and the second areas correspond to second pixels.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A method for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
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(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a first plurality of beamlets and a second plurality of beamlets, the first and second plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) irradiating a particular portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the first beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt first areas of the particular portion, the first areas being at least partially melted, leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize; and
(d) after step (c), irradiating the particular portion with the second beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt second areas of the particular portion, the second areas being at least partially melted, leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize, wherein the first irradiated and re-solidified areas and the second irradiated and resolidified areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one section of the film sample, and wherein the first areas correspond to first pixels, and the second areas correspond to second pixels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
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(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a plurality of beamlets, the plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) at a first location of the film sample with respect to the irradiation beam pulses, irradiating a first portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt first areas of the at least one section, the first areas leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas on at least one first edge thereof, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize; and
(d) after step (c), translating the film sample from the first location to a second location with respect to the irradiation beam pulses;
(e) after step (d) and at the second location, irradiating a second portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt second areas of the at least one section, the second areas leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas on at least one second edge thereof, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize, wherein the at least one first edge of the first portion of the at least one section of the film sample is overlapped by the at least one second edge of the second portion of the at least one section of the film sample, and wherein the first re-solidified areas and the second re-solidified areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one first edge and the at least one second edge. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising:
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a processing arrangement, which when executing a computer program, is configured to perform the following steps;
(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a first plurality of beamlets and a second plurality of beamlets, the first and second plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) irradiating a particular portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the first beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt first areas of the particular portion, the first areas being at least partially melted, leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize; and
(d) after step (c), irradiating the particular portion with the second beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt second areas of the particular portion, the second areas being at least partially melted, leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize, wherein the first re-solidified areas and the second re-solidified areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one section of the film sample, and wherein the first areas correspond to first pixels, and the second areas correspond to second pixels. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A system for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising:
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a processing arrangement, which when executing a computer program, is configured to perform the following steps;
(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a plurality of beamlets, the plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) at a first location of the film sample with respect to the irradiation beam pulses, irradiating a first portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt first areas of the at least one section, the first areas leaving first unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the first areas on at least one first edge thereof, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize;
(d) after step (c), translating the film sample from the first location to a second location with respect to the irradiation beam pulses; and
(e) after step (d) and at the second location, irradiating a second portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt second areas of the at least one section, the second areas leaving second unirradiated regions between respective adjacent ones of the second areas on at least one second edge thereof, and being allowed to resolidify and crystallize, wherein the at least one first edge of the first portion of the at least one section of the film sample is overlapped by the at least one second edge of the second portion of the at least one section of the film sample, and wherein the first re-solidified areas and the second re-solidified areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one first edge and the at least one second edge. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
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(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a first plurality of beamlets and a second plurality of beamlets, the first and second plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) irradiating a particular portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the first beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt and crystallize first areas of the particular portion; and
(d) after step (c), irradiating the particular portion with the second beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to melt and crystallize second areas of the particular portion, wherein the first irradiated areas and the second irradiated areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one section of the film sample, wherein a pulse irradiation history of the first irradiated areas is different than a pulse history of the second irradiated areas, and wherein the first areas correspond to first pixels, and the second areas correspond to second pixels.
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65. A method for processing at least one section of a thin film sample on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
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(a) controlling an irradiation beam generator to emit successive irradiation beam pulses at a predetermined repetition rate;
(b) masking each of the irradiation beam pulses to define a plurality of beamlets, the plurality of beamlets of each of the irradiation pulses being provided for impinging the film sample and having an intensity which is sufficient to at least partially melt irradiated portions of the at least one section of the film sample;
(c) at a first location of the film sample with respect to the irradiation beam pulses, irradiating a first portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a first pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt and crystallize first areas of the at least one section; and
(d) after step (c), translating the film sample from the first location to a second location with respect to the irradiation beam pulses;
(e) after step (d) and at the second location, irradiating a second portion of the at least one section of the film sample with the beamlets of a second pulse of the irradiated beam pulses to at least partially melt and crystallize second areas of the at least one section, wherein the at least one first edge of the first portion of the at least one section of the film sample is overlapped by the at least one second edge of the second portion of the at least one section of the film sample, wherein a pulse irradiation history of the first irradiated areas is different than a pulse history of the second irradiated areas, and wherein the first irradiated areas and the second irradiated areas are intermingled with one another within the at least one first edge and the at least one second edge.
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Specification