Au-induced lateral crystallization of amorphous Si1-xGex (x: 0-1) on SiO2 at a low temperature (400 degrees C) has been investigated. Although the growth velocity decreased with increasing Ge fraction, growth velocity exceeding 20 mu m/h was obtained for all Ge fractions. As a result, poly-Si1-xGex with large areas (> 20 mu m) was obtained at a low temperature (400 degrees C). This is a great advantage of Au-induced lateral crystallization compared with Ni. However, the concentrations in the surface regions (depth: 0-20 nm) of the lateral growth regions were high (10-30%), though those in the deeper regions (depth: 20-50 nm) were as small as 1-2%. Removing of the surface regions with the high Au concentrations and gettering of Au atoms in the deeper regions are necessary to apply the grown layers to the device fabrication. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.