Kinetic and Thermodynamic Aspects of Phase Evolution in Ti/a-Si Multilayer Films

1990 ◽  
Vol 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Ma ◽  
L.A. Clevenger ◽  
C.V. Thompson ◽  
K.N. Tu

AbstractThe growth of an amorphous Ti-Si phase and subsequent formation of crystalline silicides during solid-state reactions in Ti/a-Si multilayer films have been studied using power-compensated differential scanning calorimetry, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and thin-film x-ray diffraction. By analyzing calorimetric data we have determined the activation energies for the formation of the various silicides (amorphous Ti-silicide, TiSi, C49-TiSi2, Ti5Si3) as well as their heats of formation. An amorphous silicide is the first phase to form during heating and we have measured the composition profile of this amorphous layer using scanning transimission electron microscopy. Metastable phase equilibria in the Ti-Si system are discussed in light of the thermodynamic and compositional information obtained in our experiments.

1985 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Samwer ◽  
H Schröder ◽  
M. Moske

AbstractMetallic glass formation by solid state reactions has been observed in multilayer Zr-Co diffusion couples. The kinetics of the reaction are limited by the diffusion of the Co-atoms in the growing amorphous layer, at least for longer times, as shown by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and resistance measurements. The latter one provides the interdiffusion constant and the activation energy of about 1.1 eV. Deposition of the crystalline layers at 77 K results in an enhanced amorphization process in the first stage of the reaction and gives preliminary answers about the nucleation of the amorphous phase.


1991 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU. N. Erokhin ◽  
R. Grotzschel ◽  
S. R. Oktyabrski ◽  
S. Roorda ◽  
W. Sinke ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe interaction during low temperature thermal annealing of metal atoms from a Ni film evaporated on top of Si structures with a buried amorphous layer formed by ion implantation has been investigated. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS)/channeling, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and X-ray microanalysis were used to determine structures and compositions. It is shown that the combination of such silicon properties as the increased rate of silicidation reaction for amorphous silicon with respect to the crystalline one in combination with high metal atom diffusivity leads to formation of buried epitaxial Ni silicide islands at the interface between the amorphous and the top crystalline silicon layers. During thermal annealing at temperatures as low as 350° C, these islands move through the a-Si layer leaving behind epitaxially recrystallized Si.


1985 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sawada ◽  
W. X. Chen ◽  
E. D. Marshall ◽  
K. L. Kavanagh ◽  
T. F. Kuech ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAlloyed ohmic contacts (i.e. Au-Ge-Ni) to n-GaAs lead to non-planar interfaces which are unsuitable for devices with shallow junctions and small dimensions. In this study, the fabrication of non-alloyed ohmic contacts (via solid state reactions) is investigated. A layered structure involving the solid phase epitaxy of Ge using a transport medium (PdGe) is shown to produce low (1 — 5 × 10∼6Ω cm2) and reproducible values of contact resistivity. The resultant interface is shown to be abrupt by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy.


1989 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Dobisz ◽  
H. Dietrich ◽  
A. W. McCormick ◽  
J. P. Harbison

AbstractPreviously, it was shown that superlattices implanted with Si at 77K, exhibited more extensive damage and uniform compositional mixing upon subsequent annealing than samples implanted at room temperature.[l,2] The current work focuses on the damage in samples implanted with Si at 77K. The study shows that for a given dose, the amount of damage depends upon the layer thickness and the composition. Specimens of bulk GaAs, Al 3Ga. 7As, 7.5 nm GaAs -10 nm Al. 3Ga. 7As superlattice (SL1), 5.5 nm GaAs −3.5 nm AlAs superlattice (SL2), and 8.0 nm GaAs −8.0 nm AlAs superlat-tice (SL3) were implanted at 77K with 100 KeV Si, with doses ranging from 3 × 1013 cm−2 to 1 × 1015 cm−2. The samples were examined by ion channelling and cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At 77K and a dose of 1 × 1014 cm−2, the GaAs and SLi showed an amorphous layer, while no damage peak was observed in SL2. The 77K amorphization thresholds of the Al 3Ga. 7As alloy, SL2, and SL3 were 2.5 × 1014 cm−2, 4 × 1014 cm−2, and 1 × 1015 cm−2 respectively. The sharpness of the amorphization threshold varied with the material.


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2738-2743 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Sun ◽  
S. Schneider ◽  
U. Geyer ◽  
W. L. Johnson ◽  
M-A. Nicolet

The amorphous ternary metallic alloy Zr60Al15Ni25 was oxidized in dry oxygen in the temperature range 310 °C to 410 °C. Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies suggest that during this treatment an amorphous layer of zirconium-aluminum-oxide is formed at the surface. Nickel was depleted in the oxide and enriched in the amorphous alloy near the interface. The oxide layer thickness grows parabolically with annealing duration, with a transport constant of 2.8 × 10−5 m2/s × exp(−1.7 eV/kT). The oxidation rate may be controlled by the diffusion of Ni in the amorphous alloy. At later stages of the oxidation process, precipitates of nanocrystalline ZrO2 appear in the oxide near the interface. Finally, two intermetallic phases nucleate and grow simultaneously in the alloy, one at the interface and one within the alloy. An explanation involving preferential oxidation is proposed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1737-1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pohl ◽  
G. Westin

An all-alkoxide sol-gel route to the formation of Nd1/3La1/3Ca1/3MnO3thin films and powders has been developed. The microstructural evolution on heat treatment of the gel to yield the perovskite oxide was monitored by means of thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry, powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). It was found that the amorphous gel consists of hydrated oxo-carbonate without organic residues, and on heating it decomposes in several steps, finally forming single-phase perovskite at 680 °C. Further heating results in only slight changes in the cell parameters and crystal growth. Films were prepared by spin coating, followed by heat treatment in air to a temperature of 800 °C, and studied by scanning electron microscopy, TEM-EDS, and XRD. Films on Al2O3were more porous, while films on Pt–TiO2–SiO2–Si were rather dense and consisted of areas with different crystal orientations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 475-479 ◽  
pp. 365-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichiro Fukui ◽  
Mahoto Takeda ◽  
Takao Endo

Precipitation behaviour in an Al-Mg-Si alloy aged at 403 K to 483 K was studied with respect to thermal stability and morphology of the metastable precipitates, using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Vickers microhardness tests and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The quantitative analysis of the DSC measurements revealed that the change in the first exothermic peak (the peak P) of the metastable phase is proportional to the increases in the Vickers hardness. The HRTEM observations showed the four types of the precipitates in morphology during the isothermal ageing and the change in the peak P was mainly caused by the formation of the precipitates with irregular contrast and the ones with the network interior angle between 65°and 80°


1999 ◽  
Vol 589 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Radulescu ◽  
J.M. Mccarthy ◽  
E. A. Stach

AbstractIn-situ TEM annealing experiments on the Pd (20 nm) / a-Ge (150 nm) / Pd (50 nm) GaAs ohmic contact system have permitted real time determination of the evolution of contact microstructure. As-deposited cross-sectional samples of equal thickness were prepared using a focused ion beam (FIB) method and then subjected to in-situ annealing at temperatures between 130-400 °C. Excluding Pd-GaAs interactions, four sequential solid state reactions were observed during annealing of the Pd:Ge thin films. First, interdiffusion of the Pd and Ge layers occurred, followed by formation of the hexagonal Pd2Ge phase. This hexagonal phase then transformed into orthorhombic PdGe, followed by solid state epitaxial growth of Ge at the contact / GaAs interface. The kinetics of the solid state reactions, which occur during ohmic contact formation, were determined by measuring the grain growth rates associated with each phase from the videotape observations. These data agreed with a previous study that measured the activation energies through a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. We established that the Ge transport to the GaAs interface was dependent upon the grain size of the PdGe phase. The nucleation and growth of this phase was demonstrated to have a significant effect on the solid phase epitaxial growth of Ge on GaAs. These findings allowed us to engineer an improved two step annealing procedure that would control the shape and size of the PdGe grains. Based on these results, we have established the suitability of combining FIB sample preparation with in-situ cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) annealing for studying thin film solid-state reactions.


1993 ◽  
Vol 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanton P. Ashburn ◽  
Douglas T. Grider ◽  
Mehmet C. ÖztÜrk ◽  
Gari Harris ◽  
Dennis M. Maher

ABSTRACTIn this paper we present results on solid state reactions between Ti and Si1−xGex alloys selectively deposited onto Si (100) substrates using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) for contact applications in novel device structures. Germanium concentrations of 0%, 30%, 50%, and 100% within the reacting Si1−xGex alloy are investigated. The Si1−xGex alloys (approximately 2500 ° thick) are deposited using rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD). Titanium is then deposited by evaporation. Sheet resistance measurements as a function of RTA temperature (10 second anneals) provide indications of various phases that occur during the reactions through the formation of constant sheet resistance plateaus. The RTA temperature required for the formation of a minimum resistivity phase is observed to increase for increasing Ge concentrations within the reacting Si1−xGex alloy. Using x-ray diffraction we have determined that for the reactions of Ti with Si the C49 TiSi2 metastable phase forms prior to the minimum resistivity C54 TiSi2 phase. For the reactions between Ti and Ge a minimum resistivity TiGe2 phase also with the C54 structure forms, however, this phase is preceeded not by a C49 TiGe2 structure, but by a Ti6Ge5 phase. The minimum resistivity phases for Ti reactions with 30% and 50% Ge Si1−xGex, alloy reactions also have a C54 structure with unit cell dimensions varying from that of TiSi2) to TiGe2 as the Ge concentration is increased. The grain structures for the reactions are investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). As the Ge concentration within the reacting alloy decreases the lateral grain size for the C54 structures increases. A self-aligned germanosilicide process is identified and used to fabricate raised, ultrashallow junctions with Ti(SiGe)2 (germanosilicide) contacts. Forward and reverse bias characterization of the junctions indicate that leakage current induced during silicidation can be eliminated using raised junctions with germanosilicide contacts.


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