Crystallization of amorphous silicon during thin-film gold reaction

The crystallization of a‐Si in a‐Si (50‐nm) and Au (5‐nm) thin‐film bilayers has been investigated during heat treatment in a transmission electron microscope. When crystallization of a‐Si first begins at 130 °C, the Au‐Si alloy (Au and a precursor phase) reflections observed at lower temperatures vanish, and several new reflections from metastable Au‐Si compounds occur. Dendritically growing islands of poly‐Si are observed after heating at 175 °C. If the samples are held at a constant temperature of 175 °C for 10 min, the poly‐Si islands coalesce. The formation of poly‐Si depends on the diffusion of Au into a‐Si and the formation of metastable Au‐Si compounds, which act as transport phases for both Si and Au. After crystallization Au segregates to the front and back surfaces of the poly‐Si film. The result of this work and earlier diffraction investigations are interpreted in terms of superlattices based on a sublattice. A fundamental body‐centered‐cubic structure with a=5.52 A and composition Au4Si is s...

[1]  R. P. Anantatmula,et al.  The gold-silicon phase diagram , 1975 .

[2]  P. Duwez,et al.  Non-crystalline Structure in Solidified Gold–Silicon Alloys , 1960, Nature.

[3]  E. Bauer,et al.  Formation, structure, and orientation of gold silicide on gold surfaces , 1976 .

[4]  L. Hultman,et al.  Formation of aluminum silicide between two layers of amorphous silicon , 1987 .

[5]  E. Jette,et al.  An X‐Ray Study of the Binary Alloys of Silicon with Ag, Au, Pb, Sn, Zn, Cd, Sb and Bi , 1933 .

[6]  B. Tsaur,et al.  Phase transformations in laser‐irradiated Au‐Si thin films , 1980 .

[7]  Pierre Villars,et al.  Pearson's handbook of crystallographic data for intermetallic phases , 1985 .

[8]  N. D. Berg,et al.  The structure of gold silicide in thin Au/Si films☆ , 1980 .

[9]  G. Margaritondo,et al.  Photoemission studies of atomic redistribution at gold–silicon and aluminum–silicon interfaces , 1984 .

[10]  C. Su,et al.  Systematics on the electron states of silicon d‐metal interfaces , 1980 .

[11]  B. Post,et al.  Eutectic decomposition in the goldsilicon system , 1971 .

[12]  C. Suryanarayana,et al.  On the crystal structure of a non-equilibrium phase in the gold-silicon system , 1974 .

[13]  K. Nakashima,et al.  Low temperature diffusion of Au into Si in the Si(substrate)-Au(film) system☆ , 1975 .

[14]  B. Tsaur,et al.  Metastable Au-Si alloy formation induced by ion-beam interface mixing , 1981 .

[15]  C. Suryanarayana,et al.  Rapid quenching from the melt: An annotated bibliography 1958–72 , 1973 .

[16]  H. Okamoto,et al.  The Au−Si (Gold-Silicon) system , 1983 .

[17]  A. Hiraki,et al.  Presence of critical Au-Film thickness for room temperature interfacial reaction between Au(film) and Si(crystal substrate) , 1980 .

[18]  S. Komiya,et al.  Metallic state of Si in Si−noble−metal vapor−quenched alloys studied by Auger electron spectroscopy , 1975 .

[19]  S. Kim,et al.  Room‐temperature interfacial reaction in Au‐semiconductor systems , 1977 .

[20]  A. Cros,et al.  A study of the Si‐Au‐Ag interface by surface techniques , 1981 .

[21]  E. Bauer,et al.  Silicide surface phases on gold , 1981 .

[22]  M. Allmen,et al.  A comparison of glass forming ability in Ag-Si and Au-Si alloys , 1985 .

[23]  B. Predel,et al.  Beitrag zur kenntnis der thermodynamischen eigenschaften flüssiger silber-germanium-, silber-silizium-, gold-germanium- und gold-silizium-legierungen , 1975 .

[24]  T. Anantharaman,et al.  Formation of New Intermetallic Phases in Binary Eutectic Systems by Drastic Undercooling of the Melt , 1966, Nature.

[25]  T. Magee,et al.  Investigation of solid–solid reactions of Au films on silicon , 1978 .

[26]  K. Tu.  Selective growth of metal‐rich silicide of near‐noble metals , 1975 .

[27]  G. Lay,et al.  The Au/Si(111) interface: Growth mode, energetics, structural and electronic properties , 1981 .

[28]  Chuang‐Chuang Tsai,et al.  Schottky barrier amorphous-crystalline interface formation , 1983 .

[29]  B. Appleton,et al.  Ion-beam mixing of metal-semiconductor eutectic systems , 1981 .

[30]  K. Oura,et al.  LEED-AES study of the AuSi(100) system , 1979 .

[31]  N. Dhere,et al.  Metastable structures in Au-Si thin films , 1981 .

[32]  M. Nicolet,et al.  LOW‐TEMPERATURE MIGRATION OF SILICON IN THIN LAYERS OF GOLD AND PLATINUM , 1971 .

[33]  M. Hansen,et al.  Constitution of Binary Alloys , 1958 .

[34]  Chin‐An Chang.  Similarity in interactions between metal semiconductor and metal metal interfaces , 1982 .