Crystallization process of silicon thin films with carbon nanotube electron beam (C-beam)

We introduce here a carbon nanotube electron beam (C-beam) exposure technique on thin films to apply on display devices. High performance C-beam sources were fabricated with resist-assisted patterning (RAP) using triode DC-PECVD. To understand the crystallization process, C-beam exposed amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films deposited on glass substrate were used. Electrons passing through gate mesh, with higher accelerated energy, impact thin amorphous film on the anode plate. After moderated C-beam exposure, the amorphous silicon film becomes crystalline. The structural modification of amorphous silicon film with C-beam was confirmed with XRD and TEM imaging. The crystallized film shows (111)-dominated orientation and average crystalline size of ∼30 nm. The C-beam exposure technique could be applied for low cost thin film transistor fabrication.