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A study on the formation mechanism of ytterbium silicide for Schottky contact applications
Author(s) -
Na Sekwon,
Choi Hwayoul,
Lee Byunghoon,
Choi Juyun,
Seo Yujin,
Kim Hyoungsub,
Lee SeokHee,
Lee HooJeong
Publication year - 2012
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.4985
Subject(s) - silicide , amorphous solid , annealing (glass) , nucleation , epitaxy , bilayer , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , crystallography , layer (electronics) , nanotechnology , metallurgy , chemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , membrane
This article reports some new details of the Yb silicide formation mechanism. The combination of high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy helped us to unravel several interesting aspects of the silicidation process at the early stage. Interdiffusion between Si and Yb was extensive even at low temperatures (<250 °C) and led to the formation of an amorphous layer, followed by the nucleation of crystalline YbSi 2− x at the bottom of the amorphous layer. Upon annealing at 350 °C, the silicide layer grew thicker as a flat layer of a uniform thickness with two epitaxial relations with the underlying Si lattice. Annealing at higher temperatures (400 °C and 500 °C) prompted silicide grains with random orientations to nucleate and grow on the epitaxial layer, producing a bilayer morphology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.