Formation of Si islands from amorphous thin films upon thermal annealing

The mechanism of crystalline Si island formation from an amorphous film was discussed in relation to the free energy of the Si/SiO₂ system. Agglomeration of the Si crystallite occurred forming islands, thus preventing a further increase in free energy. Crystal growth proceeded in two steps. At first, the size distribution of Si islands was unimodal but finally became bimodal during the crystallization process.