Citation

Tsai WC, Chi KS, Chen LJ. J. Appl. Physics 2004; 96(9): 5353-5356.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, American Institute of Physics)

DOI

10.1063/1.1769604

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The growth of pinhole-free epitaxial Yb and Er suicide thin films on (111)Si has been achieved by capping appropriate amorphous Si(a-Si) layer at room temperature followed by annealing at 700°C in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. The thickness of the a-Si capping layer was selected to be such that the consumption of Si atoms from the substrate is minimized. The design and reimplementation of the scheme involving appropriate thickness of a-Si capping layer was based on an understanding of the formation mechanism of the pinholes with epitaxial rare-earth islands as diffusion barriers for Si diffusion at the silicide/Si interfaces. © 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Language: en

Keywords

Annealing; Thin films; Ohmic contacts; Transmission electron microscopy; Ultrahigh vacuum; Growth (materials); Interfacial energy; Erbium compounds; Metal silicides; Codeposition; Interlayers; Metal layers; Ytterbium