Thin polycrystalline silicon films are attractive for the fabrication of active matrix liquid crystal displays. We propose the use of flash lamp annealing to crystallize amorphous silicon layers on glass substrates as a low-cost manufacturing route. In this process, amorphous silicon can be crystallized both by solid phase crystallization (SPC) and in the super lateral growth (SLG) regime. We present a thermal model which incorporates the phase transitions during annealing and we have shown that predictions from the model are in good agreement with experimental observations. In addition, the model is a valuable aid to optimizing the process conditions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.