We have studied the effect of An addition on Ni-mediated crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) using a silicon-nitride (SiNx) cap layer. The Ni and An particles were sputtered on the SiNx,/a-Si and then the samples were heated for crystallization at a temperature of 550 degrees C. We achieved disk-shaped grains and found that the grain size increased with increasing An density when the Ni density was fixed at 2.45 X 10(14)/cm(2). We achieved a grain size of similar to 45 mu m, however the a-Si could not be crystallized when Au density is higher than Ni density. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.