Metal Induced Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

1992 ◽  
Vol 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Hempel ◽  
O. Schoenfeld ◽  
P. Veit

ABSTRACTThe crystallization behaviour of Ni doped magnetron co-sputtered amorphous silicon thin films (MSP-a-Si(Ni)) has been investigated by means of near infrared-visible-ultraviolet (NIR-VIS-UV) transmission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Using the change in optical transmission spectra of crystallized a-Si(Ni) thin films the crystallization kinetics is described. At the crystallization frontier a needle morphology of single crystals is observed with STEM, which is followed by solid state diffusion of nickel through the amorphous matrix. Using a long term thermal treatment we have studied the formation of expansed monocrystalline networks.

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril Cayron ◽  
Martien Den Hertog ◽  
Laurence Latu-Romain ◽  
Céline Mouchet ◽  
Christopher Secouard ◽  
...  

Odd electron diffraction patterns (EDPs) have been obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on silicon nanowires grownviathe vapour–liquid–solid method and on silicon thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation. Many explanations have been given in the past, without consensus among the scientific community: size artifacts, twinning artifacts or, more widely accepted, the existence of new hexagonal Si phases. In order to resolve this issue, the microstructures of Si nanowires and Si thin films have been characterized by TEM, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Despite the differences in the geometries and elaboration processes, the EDPs of the materials show great similarities. The different hypotheses reported in the literature have been investigated. It was found that the positions of the diffraction spots in the EDPs could be reproduced by simulating a hexagonal structure withc/a= 12(2/3)1/2, but the intensities in many EDPs remained unexplained. Finally, it was established that all the experimental data,i.e.EDPs and HRTEM images, agree with a classical cubic silicon structure containing two microstructural defects: (i) overlapping Σ3 microtwins which induce extra spots by double diffraction, and (ii) nanotwins which induce extra spots as a result of streaking effects. It is concluded that there is no hexagonal phase in the Si nanowires and the Si thin films presented in this work.


1985 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Zheng ◽  
L. S. Hung ◽  
J. W. Mayer

ABSTRACTInteractions of evaporated Ni and Si thin films were investigated by a combination of backseat tering spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. The presence of amorphous Si has no significant effects on Ni2Si and NiSi formation, but it drastically lowers the formation temperature of NiSi. Experiments with evaporated thin markers established that Ni is the dominant diffusing species in the growth of the three suicides. The stability of NiSi was examined by sequential evaporation of Ni34Si66 and Ni50Si50 thin films both on Si(100) and on evaporated Si substrates. The results showed that NiSi2 grows at the expence of NiSi when the stucture is in contact with evaporated Si, while it dissociates into NiSi and Si when in contact with single crystal Si.


2009 ◽  
Vol 517 (18) ◽  
pp. 5453-5458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreja Gajović ◽  
Davor Gracin ◽  
Krunoslav Juraić ◽  
Jordi Sancho-Parramon ◽  
Miran Čeh

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 443-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Ling Hu ◽  
Eric Rind ◽  
James S. Speck

In2O3is important because it has been widely used as a transparent contact material and an active gas sensor material. To understand and utilize its intrinsic physics as a semiconductor, it is necessary to have In2O3with a high material quality. In this article, single-crystalline (001)-oriented In2O3thin films were grown on yttria-stabilized zirconia (001) substrate, and a group theory analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments were conducted to investigate the defects within the In2O3film. Owing to the reduced symmetry of the bixbyite structure (space group Ia{\overline 3}) in comparison with the fluorite template (space group Fm {\overline 3}m), the formation of antiphase domains and 90° rotation domains in the In2O3thin films is anticipated. This prediction is confirmed experimentally by TEM and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy images. The size of the enclosed domains ranges from 50 to 300 nm, and the major domain boundaries are along the (110), (1{\overline 1}0), (010) and (100) planes. The rotation domains are related by a fourfold rotation operation along the 〈001〉 directions, which will cause the permutation of the axes of the bixbyite structure.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1456-1457
Author(s):  
H. Hu ◽  
M. Zheng ◽  
J.N. Eckstein ◽  
J. Zuo

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.


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