1 Introduction / p1
　1.1 History of solar cells / p1
　1.2 Conventional fabrication method of thin-film polycrystalline silicon for solar cells / p2
　1.3 Solid phase crystallization method / p6
　1.4 A new solid phase crystallization (SPC) method / p8
　References / p12
2 Theoretical background / p14
　2.1 Introduction / p14
　2.2 Solid phase crystallization / p15
　2.3 Transport of polycrystalline silicon films / p18
　2.4 Current-voltage characteristics of p-n junction / p21
　2.5 Summary / p26
　References / p27
3 Development of thin-film polycrystalline silicon by a new SPC method / p28
　3.1 Introduction / p28
　3.2 Effect of impurities (dopants) / p33
　3.3 Optimum starting materials for the SPC method / p66
　3.4 Investigation of substrates / p83
　3.5 Solid phase crystallization using crystal silicon as a seed / p97
　3.6 Summary / p108
　References / p110
4 Development of solar cells using thin-film polycrystalline silicon / p111
　4.1 Introduction / p111
　4.2 Experimental technique / p112
　4.3 A new junction fabrication technology / p116
　4.4 Solar cells using thin-film polycrystalline silicon fabricated by the SPC method / p136
　4.5 Summary / p147
　References / p149
5.Summary / p150
Acknowledgement / p153