Thickness dependence of defect density in thin film silicon formed on insulator polycrystalline by zone-melting recrystallization [solar cells]

Formation technique of high quality thin film polycrystalline Si on insulator by zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR) was investigated for use in Si solar cell applications. Varying the thickness of polycrystalline Si of ZMR samples, thickness dependence of defect density in ZMR-Si films was studied. It was found that defect density of ZMR-Si film was strongly affected by thickness of polycrystalline Si. By thinning the polycrystalline Si film, defect density of ZMR-Si film was reduced to 3/spl times/10/sup 6//cm/sup 2/ without lowering scanning speed at ZMR process.