Metal-Induced Crystallization: Fundamentals and Applications

Crystalline semiconductors in the form of thin films are crucial materials for many modern, advanced technologies in fields such as microelectronics, optoelectronics, display technology, and photovoltaic technology. Crystalline semiconductors can be produced at surprisingly low temperatures (as low as 120 C) by crystallization of amorphous semiconductors, which are put in contact with a metal. This so-called metal-induced crystallization process has attracted great scientific and technological interest because it allows the production of crystalline semiconductor-based advanced devices at very low temperatures, for example, directly on low-cost (but often heat-sensitive) substrates. This book provides the first comprehensive and in-depth overview of the current fundamental understanding of the metal-induced crystallization process and further elucidates how to employ this process in different technologies, for example, in thin-film solar cells and display technologies. It aims to give the reader a comprehensive perspective of the metal-induced crystallization process and thereby stimulate the development of novel crystalline semiconductor-based technologies.