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This research was aimed to study the recrystallization behaviour involved during the production of poly-silicon thin films using nickel-induced annealing technique. The required amorphous silicon thin films with the thickness of 100 nm were deposited onto the glass substrate using PECVD technique. In order to realize the nickel-induced annealing process, the nickel coatings of 4 - 12nm ¡V thick were subsequently sputter-deposited on the amorphous silicon. The characteristics of the obtained poly-silicon thin films such as grain size, crystallinity and electrical resistance were systematically investigated using SEM, Raman and Four-Point-Probe techniques. The results showed that the increasing of the annealing duration set ranged from 0 to 20 hours had the effect in increasing the average grain size higher up to a maximum of 320nm. As the annealing duration was set longer than 20 hours, the average grain size was not increased, however, the crystallinity and electrical resistance of poly-silicon thin films appeared to be improved. Based upon the obtained results of this study, the nickel-induced recrystallization of amorphous silicon thin films were recommended to be conducted at the temperature of 550¢J or 500¢J with the annealing duration controlled at around 10hours or 20hours respectively. |