InSb films were deposited on both mica and glass substrates using thermal evaporation and subjected to FA or RTA. Crystallinity, composition and electrical properties were investigated. High Hall electron mobility as high as 25,000 cm2/(Vs) was obtained with the capped InSb film by keeping the In:Sb ratio after RTA at 520°C for 30 sec or more without adopting epitaxial growth on glass.

The photoconductivity of Si films after blue multi-laser diode annealing (BLDA) has been investigated for photosensor applications. It was found that, as the laser power increases from 4 to 6 W, the crystal structure changed from micrograins to large grains, and that the photoconductivity increases. After sintering the Si films in H2/N2 (4%) ambient at 450 °C, a photosensitivity ratio of 94 was obtained under white light exposure of 100 mW/cm2 for the Si film after the BLDA at 6 W owing to the reduction in the defects density in the Si films. These results suggest that BLDA is promising for photosensor applications in a multifunctional system on panels.

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Rapid-thermal annealing (RTA) of InSb precursor films, deposited by sputtering using an Ar plasma at room temperature, has been investigated to achieve high carrier mobility on low-cost glass substrates. Although InSb films containing residual Ar (∼1%) were partially lost by evaporation during RTA, such evaporation during RTA is suppressed by reducing the residual Ar to ∼0.3%. The crystallinity of the films is significantly increased by RTA at temperatures above 400 °C. The electron mobilities of the films increase with increasing RTA temperature up to 490 °C, showing the maximum values (9000–10 000 cm2 V−1 s−1) at 490 °C, and then, the mobilities decrease at RTA temperatures above 490 °C. The mobilities of 9000–10 000 cm2 V−1 s−1 are obtained for films with a wide range of thickness (300–1000 nm) grown at 490 °C. Detailed analysis indicated that the high carrier mobilities are realized by preferentially (111)-oriented large crystal domains (diameter: >100  μm), obtained by the regrowth of randomly oriented small grains, together with a low barrier height (16 meV) at the sub-domain boundaries (twin boundaries) in the large domains. The RTA after the sputtering technique will facilitate high-performance InSb-based devices with low production costs.

InSb thin film was deposited on glass by r.f. sputtering using the InSb (atomic ratio of 1:1) target. The film was capped by SiO2 film to prevent the effusion of Sb of low melting point. After that, blue laser beam at 445 nm of controlled power density was irradiated using CW scanning mode. The film was crystalized successfully with keeping the ratio of In and Sb as (1:1). High electron Hall mobility of 1,050 cm2/(Vs) was obtained without degrading under glass. New device applications such as magnetic or infrared sensor system with poly Si TFTs are expected not only on glass but also on flexible panel such as on plastic sheet.