Patent ID: 7718517

Claim:
A method for recrystallizing a semiconductor thin film to improve its crystalline quality, comprising: (a) irradiating a first region of a surface of the semiconductor thin film with a pulse of a radiation beam, wherein the radiation beam is first patterned into at least one beamlet in a pattern of beamlets, wherein each beamlet is incident on a target area in the first region, wherein each beamlet has sufficient fluence to melt semiconductor material in the target area on which it is incident, and wherein the molten semiconductor material in the target area recrystallizes when it is no longer exposed to the incident beamlet; and (b) continuously translating the semiconductor thin film relative to the radiation beam so that a second region of the surface of the semiconductor thin film is irradiated in the same manner as in (a), wherein the second region corresponds to a second area which is separate from a first area corresponding to the first region.