Laser irradiation of thin Co, Mo, and Pd films on single-crystalline silicon using Q-switched Nd-YAG laser pulses was shown by He backscattering to result in deep metal penetration into the Si. Evidence of the silicide formation was obtained by x-ray diffraction. Transmission electron microscopy showed the simultaneous occurrence of two types of cells with metal-rich walls: small cells of about 0.1-μm diameter, attributed to rapid solidification from a supercooled melt, and larger cells of about 1-μm diameter, attributed to convection in the melt (Bénard cells).

Diode characteristics of lateral p+pn+ structures fabricated in laser-recrystallized and non-irradiated poly-silicon have been investigated for p-dopinglevelsranging from 10"-loi9 cm-'. Leakage currents in laser-recrystallized material were found to be about two orders of magnitude lower than in non-irradiated material for low doping levels. At high doping levels almost no leakage current reduction was observed. An analysis of the leakage currents in terms of emission from grafn boundary traps was performed and the results suggest a different mixture of thermionic emission and thermal field emission for the materials at low doping levels.

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