Characterization of an individual grain boundary in metal-induced laterally crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin-film devices

A distinct grain boundary (GB) is formed when two crystallization fronts collide in metal-induced laterally crystallized (MILC) polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films. This has been used to study carrier transport across a single dominant GB. The average number of traps per unit area is found to be about 1.6/spl times/ 10/sup 12//cm/sup 2/ in this GB, significantly higher than that associated with the regular GBs in the bulk of MILC poly-Si. Though this single GB occupies a negligible fraction of the total device volume, it has been found to significantly affect both the resistance of MILC resistors and the leakage current of MILC thin-film transistors.