Semiconductor-metal composites, formed by the eutectic solidification of silicon and a metal silicide have been under investigation for some time for a number of electronic device applications. This composite system is comprised of a silicon matrix containing extended metal-silicide rod-shaped structures aligned in parallel throughout the material. The average diameter of such a rod in a typical system is about 1 μm. Thus, characterization of the rod morphology by electron microscope methods is necessitated.The types of morphometric information that may be obtained from such microscopic studies coupled with image processing are (i) the area fraction of rods in the matrix, (ii) the average rod diameter, (iii) an average circularity (roundness), and (iv) the number density (Nd;rods/cm2). To acquire electron images of these materials, a digital image processing system (Tracor Northern 5500/5600) attached to a JEOL JXA-840 analytical SEM has been used.
