Patent ID: 7319056

Claim:
A method for processing a silicon thin film into a polycrystalline silicon thin film, comprising the steps of: (a) generating a sequence of excimer laser pulses, each having a substantially predetermined size; (b) masking a laser pulse in the sequence with a mask having one or more slits having a predetermined width to generate one or more first laser beamlets corresponding to the laser pulse, such that each beamlet has a shape defined by a length corresponding to the predetermined laser pulse size and a width corresponding to the slit width; (c) irradiating a silicon thin film with the one or more first laser beamlets to effect melting of a first portion of the thin film corresponding to the shape of the one or more laser beamlets; (d) translating at least one of the thin film and the excimer laser pulses relative to each other so that one or more laser beamlets corresponding to a second laser pulse is incident on a second location of the thin film; and (e) after step (d), irradiating a second portion of the thin film with the one or more second laser beamlets corresponding to the second pulse to effect melting of the second portion at the second film location, wherein the second portion partially overlaps the first portion, wherein each of the irradiated portions is melted through a thickness of the thin film and a lateral growth is effectuated in each molten portion of the thin film.