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High resolution studies of glass‐crystal interfaces
Author(s) -
Krivanek O. L.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1980.tb04079.x
Subject(s) - materials science , amorphous solid , intergranular corrosion , grain boundary , silicon carbide , ceramic , crystal (programming language) , surface roughness , oxide , phase (matter) , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , microstructure , crystallography , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry , chromatography , computer science , programming language
SUMMARY High resolution electron microscopy has been used to image intergranular glassy phases in sintered and hot‐pressed nitrogen ceramics, and the Si‐SiO 2 interfaces important in MOS devices. The thin intergranular glassy phases were found at most grain boundaries in all liquid‐phase sintered or hot‐pressed ceramics examined. Silicon carbide sintered by a solid state diffusion process, however, contained no such phases. Si‐SiO 2 interfaces have been examined in cross‐section at about 0ṁ3 nm resolution. The images show that the transition from the Si crystal to the amorphous oxide was abrupt, but that there were 0ṁ3‐0ṁ5 nm high hills on the Si surface, separated by 2–4 nm, and long‐range undulations of 0ṁ6‐0ṁ8 nm height and 20–50 nm periodicity. Ultra‐thin (3 nm) oxides were also examined and were found to be uniform in thinkness, indicating that the roughness at the Si‐SiO 2 interfaces is initially caused by irregularities on the original, unoxidized Si surface.