An object of the present invention is to provide a method for easily forming a
polycrystalline semiconductor thin-film, such as
polycrystalline silicon having high
crystallinity and high quality, or a single
crystalline semiconductor thin-film at inexpensive cost, the
crystalline semiconductor thin-film having a large area, and to provide an apparatus for
processing the method described above. In forming a polycrystalline (or single crystalline)
semiconductor thin-film (7), such as a
polycrystalline silicon thin-film, having high
crystallinity and a large grain size on a substrate (1), or in forming a
semiconductor device having the polycrystalline (or single crystalline)
semiconductor thin-film (7) on the substrate (1), a method comprises forming a low-
crystallization semiconductor thin-film (7A) on the substrate (1), and subsequently heating and cooling this low-
crystallization semiconductor thin-film (7A) to a fusion, a semi-fusion, or a non-fusion state by
flash lamp annealing to facilitate the
crystallization of the low-crystallization semiconductor thin-film, whereby a polycrystalline (single crystalline) semiconductor thin-film (7) is obtained. A method for forming the
semiconductor device and an apparatus for
processing the methods are also disclosed.