Abstract:In this work, a novel atmospheric pressure plasma-assisted excimer laser annealing method for increasing the generation efficiency of poly-crystalline silicon from amorphous silicon layers is presented. Here, both the plasma and the laser propagate coaxially in order to generate energetic synergies. The influence of different process gases and plasma discharge modes as well as the working distance were investigated. Depending on the particularly applied plasma, the crystalline area was increased by a factor of approx. 1.1 to 1.9, where the highest efficiency was observed when introducing an argon plasma beam to the annealing process.

In this contribution, basic technically usable interactions of atmospheric pressure plasmas (APP), laser irradiation and solids as well as a technique which combines such plasmas and laser irradiation are introduced. Two examples for plasma‐enhanced laser processing of coatings on glass surfaces are presented in more detail. First, APP‐assisted annealing of amorphous silicon layers is discussed. It is shown that the crystallised area is notably increased by assisting plasmas where the particular improvement factor depends on the particularly applied type of plasma. Second, the impact of assisting plasmas on laser removal of lacquers and varnishes from glass surfaces is presented. By introducing a plasma jet to the laser removal process, the laser energy required for cleaning or delamination is notably reduced.