Layer transfer and simultaneous activation of phosphorus atoms in Si films induced by semiconductor diode laser (SDL) irradiation have been investigated. Phosphorus-doped a-Si films supported by columns on a starting substrate (quartz) and a counter substrate (glass) were closely contacted face-to-face, and an 812 nm light from a SDL was irradiated to the a-Si films from the backside of the starting substrate. After SDL irradiation, 20μm wide and 1000μm long Si films were transferred to the counter substrate and were crystallized simultaneously. From optical microscope images, it was confirmed that the original form was completely maintained after the film transfer. The electrical conductivity of transferred Si film was as high as 708 S/cm. Hall measurement of the films revealed very high electron concentration of 9.5×1020 cm-3, which indicated efficient doping is achieved by the laser transfer technique.

The tip of a Si rod was melted by laser diode (LD) irradiation and we succeeded in dropping small Si droplets by vibration of the Si rod using a piezo actuator. We confirmed multiple small Si droplets under a condition of the resonance frequency of 5.8 kHz for the rod length of 6.0 mm. We observed ejection of droplets from a cone edge of molten Si and the minimum width of the solidified Si was ∼ 1 μ m in diameter. The solidified Si show high crystallinity with the Raman scattering TO phonon band of 515.6 cm-1.

We have demonstrated previously that a diet containing skimmed milk (SM) fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LGSP) reduces adipocyte size in Sprague–Dawley rats. Two experiments were conducted to extend these observations in order to elucidate the mechanism involved. In experiment 1, lean and obese Zucker rats were fed a diet containing SM or LGSP for 4 weeks. The LGSP diet, compared with the SM diet, resulted in lowering of the mesenteric adipose tissue weight (23 %; P < 0·05), adipocyte sizes (28 %; P < 0·001) and serum leptin concentration (36 %; P < 0·05) in lean rats. Obese Zucker rats did not display such dietary effects. Only the number of smaller adipocytes was increased (P < 0·05) by the LGSP diet in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese rats. The LGSP diet significantly reduced the serum and hepatic cholesterol in rats. In addition, the LGSP diet led to an increased excretion of faecal fatty acids and total neutral faecal sterols in both rat strains. In experiment 2, Sprague–Dawley rats with permanent cannulation of the thoracic duct were fed either the SM or LGSP diets and their lymph was collected. The LGSP diet lowered the maximum transport rate of TAG and phospholipids. These results indicate that fermented milk regulates adipose tissue growth through inhibition at the stage of dietary fat absorption in lean Zucker rats.

Transient reflectivity of amorphous Si (a-Si) films during thermal plasma jet (TPJ) irradiation has been measured to characterize the phase transformation in millisecond time domain. The a-Si films first transform to crystalline by solid phase crystallization (SPC) followed by melting of the film, and then solidifies to the final crystalline state. By increasing the SPC temperature from about 1100 K to 1300 K, the duration of phase transformation decreases from about 1 ms to 100 μs. The crystallinity of the SPC films is improved not only by annealing the films at a high temperature but also annealing them with longer duration.

Low temperature process technologies for high performance polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are discussed based on the investigations of pulsed laser crystallization, plasma treatment of poly-Si films, and SiO2/Si interface formation. Although highdensity (∼1018 cm−3) trap states localized at grain boundaries are introduced to the poly-Si films by laser crystallization, they are efficiently decreased to the order of 1016 cm−3 by following hydrogen plasma treatment. It is also shown that high quality SiO2/Si interfaces with the density of interface trap states (Dit) in the order of 1010 cm−2eV−1 are achieved using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). By applying these low temperature process technologies to the fabrication process, high performance poly-Si TFTs with high n-channel mobility μn) of 187 cm2V−1s−1, low threshold voltage (Vth) of 1.97 V and small subthreshold swing (S) of 210 mV/dec. were obtained. These results indicate that the development of low temperature process technologies that can control trap states is the key to the next generation high performance poly-Si TFTs.