Method and system for providing a thin film with a controlled crystal orientation using pulsed laser induced melting and nucleation-initiated crystallization
First Claim
1. A system for producing at least one section of a polycrystalline metal film with a substantially uniform orientation that inhibits electro-migration, comprising:
- a logic arrangement which is operable to;
(a) irradiate at least one portion of the at least one section of the metal thin film to completely melt the at least one portion of the metal thin film throughout its entire thickness, and(b) allow the at least one portion of the melted metal thin film to re-solidify after the at least one is melted, wherein the grains of the at least one portion have the substantially uniform orientation that inhibits electro-migration upon the re-solidification, and(c) irradiate at least one portion of the at least one section of the metal thin film using a sequential lateral solidification technique.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and system for generating a metal thin film with a uniform crystalline orientation and a controlled crystalline microstructure are provided. For example, a metal layer is irradicated with a pulsed laser to completely melt the film throughout its entire thickness. The metal layer can then resolidify to form grains with a substantially uniform orientation. The resolidified metal layer can be irradiated with a sequential lateral solidification technique to modify the crystalline microstructure (e.g., create larger grains, single-crystal regions, grain boundary controlled microstructures, etc.) The metal layer can be irradiated by patterning a beam using a mask which includes a first region capable of attenuating the pulsed laser and a second region allowing complete irradiation of sections of the thin film being impinged by the masked laser beam. An inverse dot-patterned mask can be used, the microstructure that may have substantially the same as the geometric pattern as that of the dots of the mask.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A system for producing at least one section of a polycrystalline metal film with a substantially uniform orientation that inhibits electro-migration, comprising:
a logic arrangement which is operable to; (a) irradiate at least one portion of the at least one section of the metal thin film to completely melt the at least one portion of the metal thin film throughout its entire thickness, and (b) allow the at least one portion of the melted metal thin film to re-solidify after the at least one is melted, wherein the grains of the at least one portion have the substantially uniform orientation that inhibits electro-migration upon the re-solidification, and (c) irradiate at least one portion of the at least one section of the metal thin film using a sequential lateral solidification technique. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14)
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9. A system for producing at least one section of a polycrystalline metal film with a substantially uniform orientation, comprising:
a logic arrangement which is operable to; (a) irradiate using a laser pulse having a shape at least one portion of the at least one portion section of the metal thin film to completely melt the at least one portion of the metal thin film throughout its entire thickness, wherein the laser pulse irradiating the at least one portion is patterned using an inverse dot-patterned mask to modify the shape of the laser pulse, wherein the mask comprises a first region capable of attenuating the laser pulse and a second region allowing a significant section of the laser pulse impacting the second region to pass therethrough, the second region including opaque array patterns which include at least one of dot-shaped areas, hexagonal shaped areas and rectangular shaped areas, and (b) allow the at least one portion of the melted metal thin film to re-solidify after the at least one is melted, wherein the grains of the at least one portion have the substantially uniform orientation upon the re-solidification. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
Specification