NH3 plasma pretreatment before crystallization was performed for the first time on low-temperature-processed (LTP) poly-Si thin-film transistors. Significant reduction in amorphous silicon crystallization time was demonstrated using a novel NH3 plasma pretreatment before crystallization. This is due to the creation of seed nuclei by hydrogen depletion at the pretreated a-Si films as a result of the impinging of hydrogen radicals dissociated from the NH3 plasma. Thus, the following solid-phase crystallization step comprises only the growth of crystalline grains from the nuclei which are formed by the NH3 plasma pretreatment. The NH3 plasma can also produce nitrogen radicals to improve device reliability and performance as a result of the formation of strong Si-N bonds in place of weak Si-H and/or Si-Si bonds. The proposed NH3 plasma pretreatment before crystallization is a promising scheme to significantly decrease the crystallization time and raise the product throughput in the manufacturing process as well as simultaneously improving the performance and reliability of LTP poly-Si thin-film transistors. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.