High-quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon films (a-Si:H) were deposited on quartz glass substrates by radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The films were then annealed at 800 degrees C for 3 min by rapid thermal processing (RTP). As confirmed by X-ray diffractometry and Raman spectrometry, hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films were obtained after the annealing procedure. The mechanism of the rapid solid-phase recrystallization of a-Si:H film by RTP was theoretically mainly attributed to the interaction between short-wavelength photons and ground-state precursor radicals (silicon, SiH(2) and SiH(3)). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.