Aligned-Crystalline Si Films on Glass

We report structural and electronic properties of Aligned-Crystalline Si (ACSi) films on glass substrates. These films show enhanced majority carrier mobilities and minority carrier lifetimes with increasing crystallinity, i.e., with improving alignment and connectivity of the grains. A 0.4-μm-thick ACSi film with a total grain mosaic spread of 4.2° showed Hall mobility of 47 cm2/V.s for a p-type doping concentration of 1.9×1018 cm−3. A prototype n+/p/p+–type diode fabricated using a 4.2-μm-thick ACSi film showed minority carrier lifetime of ∼3.5 μs and estimated diffusion length of ∼30 μm in the p layer with a doping concentration of 5×1016 cm−3.