Patent ID: 8883656

Claim:
A method for crystallizing portions of a thin film, the method comprising: providing the thin film; patterning the thin film according to a pattern, wherein the pattern comprises a plurality of irradiation regions and a plurality of non-irradiation regions; generating a radiation beam, wherein the radiation beam is incident on a first irradiation region of the thin film; irradiating the first irradiation region of the thin film with a pulse of the radiation beam, wherein the radiation beam pulse has a fluence sufficient to partially melt the material in the first irradiation region on which it is incident, and wherein the partially molten material in the first irradiation region recrystallizes when it is no longer exposed to the radiation beam; and continuously translating the thin film relative to the radiation beam such that a second irradiation region of the surface of the thin film is irradiated with a second radiation beam pulse having a fluence sufficient to partially melt the material in the second irradiation region on which it is incident, and wherein the partially molten material in the second irradiation region recrystallizes when it is no longer exposed to the radiation beam.