(March 15) Pulsed-laser crystallization of Si films for TFTs: current status and future opportunities

Pulsed-laser crystallization of Si films on glass substrates has become an essential, substantial, and growing technology for realizing high-performance TFTs that enable the manufacture of advanced LCDs and OLED displays. In addition to these increasingly sophisticated flat-panel displays, the approach can also potentially provide a variety of high-quality Si films for 3D microelectronics, photovoltaic devices, and other large-area-electronic products. In this presentation, the field’s current status and future challenges/opportunities as regards both fundamental understanding and technological capabilities will be discussed. In particular, I will present an idea about the possibility of using a new type of advanced lasers (in the form of high-power, quasi-CW, UV, fiber lasers) for advancing the field into attaining the next level of technical and operational capabilities.