Aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) is a possible technique for producing glass/poly-Si structure, but often produces rough surfaces. The present work aims to form a uniform thin poly-Si film on glass substrate by AIC. Differential scanning calorimeter measurements are performed to study reactions at the Al/a-Si and Al/poly-Si interfaces and improve our understanding of the mechanism of the AIC process. An exothermic plateau is seen overlapping with an endothermic peak at 551 degreesC. This can be explained by a diffusion model in which silicon in At supplied by dissolution at the Al/a-Si interface diffuses to the Al/poly-Si interface to grow poly-Si film. This model requires suppression of excess Si to allow surface migration and uniform deposition of poly-Si. This suppression is achieved by using evaporated Al-Si alloy layer as the Si source. Uniform thin ( < 10 nm) poly-Si film with (1 1 1) orientation is obtained by annealing a glass/Al-Si monolayer at 500 degreesC. This film acts as a seed for subsequent epitaxial growth. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.