The numerical model presented in this article describes the heating of a thin strip of amorphous silicon on glass substrate by a continuous-wave Ar+ laser. The heat flow equation is solved using a finite difference method based on the implicit scheme with splitting by coordinates. A short overview of the methods of numerical analysis is given and the finite difference method is described in details including the numerical scheme, the algorithms with discussion of their validity, the quality of approximation and stability. The results of the simulations with a high spatio-temporal resolution help to determine the exposure time necessary to melt the entire cross-section of silicon strip and to get insight into the final temperature distribution in silicon as well as in the glass substrate.
Science Journal 