Abstract
        Excimer laser annealing (ELA) amorphous silicon (a:Si) to poly-silicon (poly-Si) in different gas environments, i.e. N2 or N2
mixed with O2:2%, for the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs) is studied. Influence of laser power on the surface 
morphology, grain size and height of gibbous grain is also investigated. The variations of threshold laser power for the 
generation of surface ablation in pure N2 only and the mixture of N2:98% and O2:2% environments are also discussed 
respectively. From experiment, it is found the combination of N2:98% and O2:2% can enhance the threshold laser power for 
the generation of surface ablation from 320mJ/cm2
 to 390 mJ/cm2
. In the condition of average grain over 0.25 μm, the 
process window (i.e. laser power for processing ability) is 30mJ/cm2
 for pure N2 only, but is 50mJ/cm2
 for the combination of 
N2:98% and O2:2%.
        Keywords
        Excimer laser annealing (ELA), Amorphous silicon, Surface ablation, Grain.
        Citation
        W. C. CHANG, K. F. YARN, W. J. LUO, C. T. CHENG, W. C. CHUANG, C. F. LO, Influence of different gas environments on the formation  of thin film polysilicon by excimer laser annealing, Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials - Rapid Communications, 2, 11, November 2008, pp.697-700 (2008).
        Submitted at: Sept. 2, 2008
 
        Accepted at: Oct. 30, 2008