The dynamic performance of amorphous-silicon transistor circuits has been numerically analyzed. A novel dynamic circuit composed of amorphous-silicon Schottky-barrier diodes and field-effect transistors has been shown to have a superior performance, and the optimum circuit parameters have been discussed. The circuit having 1µm-long, self-aligned transistors has been predicted to be operable at multi-MHz rates.

A two-dimensional laser beam profiler has been developed that can measure the intensity distribution on a sample surface of a single-shot of an excimer-laser light beam from not only the macroscopic viewpoint, but also the microscopic viewpoint, which is important to excimer-laser triggered lateral large-grain growth of Si. A resolution as fine as 0.4 µm was obtained with a field of view of as large as 30 µm 30 µm. The effects of homogenizers, phase-shifters, and their combination on beam profiles were quantitatively investigated by using this apparatus. The relationship between the microscopic beam profile and the surface morphology of laterally grown grains was also examined.

By using a strong oxidizing agent in liquid phase, more than 7 nm-thick silicon dioxide has been grown thermally in a single-crystal silicon substrate at 252 within 8 hrs under normal-pressure conditions. The oxidation characteristics have been presented. Its application to amorphous silicon MOS transistors has been also described. The field-effect mobility of the transistor was more than 0.22 cm2/Vs.