Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Michinori Iwai

Naoki Makita

Kohei Tanaka

Masashi Maekawa

Shinya Morino

Keiichi Fukuyama

Takayuki Tsutsumi

A crystalline semiconductor film, the crystalline semiconductor film being formed over an insulative substrate, and including semiconductor crystal grains laterally grown along a surface of the insulative substrate, wherein the laterally-grown semiconductor crystal grains are in contact with each other at grain boundaries, and a distance between adjacent grain boundaries is equal to or smaller than two times a lateral growth distance of the semiconductor crystal grains.

Crystalline semiconductor film and production method thereof, and semiconductor device and production method thereof

A method of the present invention includes the steps of forming an amorphous semiconductor layer on an insulative surface, adding a catalyst element capable of promoting crystallization to the amorphous semiconductor layer and then performing a first heat treatment so as to crystallize the amorphous semiconductor layer, thereby obtaining a crystalline semiconductor layer, performing a first gettering process to remove the catalyst element from the semiconductor layer, and performing a second gettering process that is different from the first gettering process to remove the catalyst element from the semiconductor layer. The first gettering process includes removing at least large masses of a semiconductor compound of the catalyst element present in the crystalline semiconductor layer. The second gettering process includes moving at least a portion of the catalyst element remaining in the crystalline semiconductor layer so as to form a low-catalyst-concentration region in the crystalline semiconductor layer, the low-catalyst-concentration region having a lower catalyst element concentration than in other regions.

Semiconductor film, method for manufacturing semiconductor film, semiconductor device, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Growing community of inventors

Yamatokooriyama, Japan

Michinori Iwai