Method of laser annealing semiconductor layer and semiconductor devices produced thereby

1. A method of laser annealing a non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer, the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer including a product region, the method comprising:

forming a nitrogen-doped layer on the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer, the nitrogen-doped layer having a nitrogen concentration of at least 3×10 20 atoms/cc;

irradiating a first area of the nitrogen-doped layer in a low oxygen environment with a laser beam; and

irradiating a second area of the nitrogen-doped layer in a low oxygen environment with a laser beam, a part of the second area overlapping with the first area, thereby forming a laser-annealed semiconductor layer of which a root mean square (rms) value of grain protrusion height is less than 20 nm.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer is formed by doping nitrogen into the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer and the nitrogen-doped layer are sequentially deposited by using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the CVD process is carried out by introducing SiH 4 gas at a first flow rate and N 2 O gas at a second flow rate into a CVD chamber.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising controlling a concentration of nitrogen in the nitrogen-doped layer by controlling one or both of the first flow rate and the second flow rate.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of doping nitrogen into the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer is carried out using an ion implantation or plasma doping process.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer has a thickness in the range of 1 to 30 nm.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer has a thickness in the range of 5 to 15 nm.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer has a nitrogen concentration in the range of 3×10 20 to 1×10 22 atoms/cc.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the nitrogen concentration is in the range of 5×10 20 to 5×10 21 atoms/cc.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer is also doped with oxygen and has an oxygen concentration in the range of 3×10 21 to 7×10 22 atoms/cc.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the oxygen concentration is in the range of 5×10 21 to 5×10 22 atoms/cc.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer includes a plurality of product regions, each comprising a display region of a display device.

14. A method of laser annealing a non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer, the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer including a product region, the method comprising:

forming a nitrogen-doped layer on the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer having a nitrogen concentration of at least 3×10 20 atoms/cc and an oxygen concentration in the range of 3×10 21 to 7×10 22 atoms/cc;

irradiating a first area of the nitrogen-doped layer in a low oxygen environment with a laser beam;

irradiating a second area of the nitrogen-doped layer in a low oxygen environment with a laser beam, a part of the second area overlapping with the first area, thereby forming a laser-annealed semiconductor layer of which a root mean square (rms) value of grain protrusion height is less than 20 nm.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the nitrogen-doped layer is formed by doping nitrogen and oxygen into the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the non-single-crystalline semiconductor layer and the nitrogen-doped layer are sequentially deposited by using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.