A semiconductor thin film is formed having a lateral growth region which is a
collection
of columnar or needle-like crystals extending generally parallel with a substrate.
The semiconductor thin film is illuminated with laser light or strong light having
equivalent energy. As a result, adjacent columnar or needle-like crystals are joined
together to form a region having substantially no grain boundaries, i.e., a monodomain
region which can substantially be regarded as a single crystal. A semiconductor
device is formed by using the monodomain region as an active layer.
