Premium
Quantitative XPS depth profiling for nickel/4H‐SiC contact with layered structure
Author(s) -
Cao Yu,
Nyborg Lars
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.2244
Subject(s) - argon , wafer , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , nickel , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , ion , thin film , metallurgy , chemistry , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , engineering , organic chemistry , chromatography
Argon ion etching is used as the precleaning procedure on 4H‐SiC wafer prior to Ni deposition by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD). The thin film Ni/SiC sample is then vacuum annealed at 800 °C for 20 min. The results of XPS depth profiling show that a layered structure of C and Ni 2 Si forms during the heat treatment. When depth profiling, preferential etching of Si in Ni 2 Si occurs, the effect of which decreases as ion beam energy increases. Low energy argon ions reduce the atomic mixing. The etch rates of the Ni 2 Si and C‐rich layers are estimated from the shift of Ni profiles obtained by measuring the Ni 2p 3/2 and Ni 3p intensities. At the end, the measured depth profile is reconstructed after correcting for the influence of the electron attenuation length. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.