Grain growth and grain size distributions in thin germanium films

Palmer, James K.; Thompson, Carl V.; Smith, Henry I.

doi:10.1063/1.339460

Cited by 156 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Sometimes, this can even lead to a complete grain growth stagnation. Simulations have also shown that groove-induced stagnation leads to lognormal size distributions [9,[57][58]. Another possible reason for abnormal grain growth is that there are almost always grainorientation-specific driving forces for grain growth.…”

Section: Normal and Abnormal Grain Growth In Thin Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the fact that two-dimensional normal grain growth can easily be modelled or simulated, and that in (2.4) practice thin films with structures as shown in figure 2.4a are very attractive candidates for testing those models, two-dimensional normal grain growth rarely occurs even in films with quasi-2D structures. In practice, grain structures of films that have undergone grain growth do not have grain size distributions that are well fit by Weibull distribution functions, but are instead well fit by lognormal grain size distributions [58][59][60]. Moreover, when grain growth leads to grain sizes significantly larger than the film thickness, it usually involves the favoured growth of a subpopulation of grains with specific crystallographic textures.…”

Section: Normal and Abnormal Grain Growth In Thin Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing the mean grain size in copper films and features

et al. 2008

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A new grain-growth mode is observed in thick sputtered copper films. This new grain-growth mode, also referred to in this work as super secondary grain growth (SSGG) leads to highly concentric grain growth with grain diameters of many tens of micrometers, and drives the system toward a {100} texture. The appearance, growth dynamics, final grain size, and self-annealing time of this new grain-growth mode strongly depends on the applied bias voltage during deposition of these sputtered films, the film thickness, the post-deposition annealing temperature, and the properties of the copper diffusion barrier layers used in this work. Moreover, a clear rivalry between this new growth mode and the regularly observed secondary grain-growth mode in sputtered copper films was found. The microstructure and texture evolution in these films is explained in terms of surface/interface energy and strain-energy density minimizing driving forces, where the latter seems to be an important driving force for the observed new growth mode. By combining these sputtered copper films with electrochemically deposited (ECD) copper films of different thickness, the SSGG growth mode could also be introduced in ECD copper, but this led to a reduced final SSGG grain size for thicker ECD films. The knowledge about the thin-film level is used to also implement this new growth mode in small copper features by slightly modifying the standard deposition process. It is shown that the SSGG growth mode can be introduced in narrow structures, but optimizations are still necessary to further increase the mean grain size in features.

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Section: Normal and Abnormal Grain Growth In Thin Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Normal and Abnormal Grain Growth In Thin Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the mean grain size in copper films and features

et al. 2008

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“…Secondary grain growth has also been investigated in detail in a number of thin film systems [42][43][44][45][46][47]. For fcc metal films, the texture evolution during grain growth often favors (111)-textured driven grain growth has been studied extensively, both experimentally [42][43][44][45][46][47] and through computer simulations [48][49][50].…”

Section: -Abnormal and Secondary Grain Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grain Growth and Texture Evolution in Thin Films

Thompson¹,

Carel²

1996

MSF

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Microstructural and texture evolution during grain growth in polycrystalline thin films was investigated. Grain growth in thin films is a coarsening process driven by the reduction of grain boundary energy, surface energies, and strain energy density. Because crystal properties can be anisotropic, grain growth in thin films is an orientation selective process. Surface and interfacial energy minimization or reduction favors the growth of grains with low combined surface and interfacial free energy. For the films and substrates investigated in this thesis, surface and interfacial energy promotes the growth of (111)-textured grains. Thin films on thick substrates are usually subjected to a non-zero state of strain, arising from differential thermal expansion between the film and the substrate, from densification and from intrinsic strains. For elastically deformed fcc metal films, strain energy density promotes the growth of (001)-textured grains. In plastically deformed films, strain energy density can favor the growth of (011)-textured grains; this results from the orientation dependence of the yield stress of grains in thin films. (111) grains are predicted to maximize the yield stress, and (011) grains are predicted to have low yield stress. An analytic model for texture evolution during grain growth in thin films can be developed by equating the magnitudes of the orientation-dependent driving forces, for pairs of orientations. The analytic model can be used to generate texture maps that define which orientations are expected to grow preferentially as a function of the processing conditions, i.e., the deposition temperature, the grain growth temperature, and the film thickness. Experimental texture maps can be generated and used to test the validity of the analytic model.Computer simulations of grain growth have been carried out using a front-tracking simulation method. Interfacial energy, elastic and plastic strain energy density, and grain growth stagnation are accounted for in the simulations. Materials parameters characteristic of Ag/(001)Ni were used. The main result of the simulations is to validate the analytic model for texture evolution during grain growth. The computer simulations also provide insights into the coupling between yielding and grain growth.Grain growth experiments in Ag/(001)Ni/(001)Ag/(001)MgO, Ag/SiO2/MgO, Ag/SiO 2 /Si, Ni/SiO 2 /Si, and Al/SiO 2 /Si were carried out. Both the thickness and the thermal strain were systematically varied, and an experimental texture map was constructed for each system. The dependence of texture evolution on strain and thickness was found to be consistent with the trends predicted by the analytic model in all of these systems. While the texture map for Ag/(001)Ni was found in quantitative agreement with the model, with no adjustable parameters, no single set of fitting parameters was found for Ag/SiO 2 /Si and for Ag/SiO 2 fMgO. Possible origins of this discrepancy are discussed.Additional experiments are proposed that could provide a better under...

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“…It is to retnark here that the GSD of the film with n = 4 approaches a nearly perfect lognormal distribution on annealing for 240min, although the average grain size at this condition is only about the size of film thickness, 20nm. This is a premature stagnation of grain structure in view of the well established fact that the grain stagnation usually occurs at D -2.5 t [4].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructure and Magnetic Property of L1o CoPt–20 at.% C Magnetic Thin Film

Park

2002

MRS Proc.

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The CoPt-20at.%C thin films of 20nm thickness were sputter-deposited in the form of CoPt/C_, (n=l: carbon layer thickness=4nm; n=4: each carbon layer thickness=lnm) and were transformation-annealed at 650 0 C for various times. Carbon was found to dissolve into CoPt lattice and enlarge the c/a ratio of the ordered CoPt lattice. The amount of carbon dissolution increases with the decreasing carbon layer thickness at a given total carbon concentration.The carbon dissolution larger than a critical amount can lead to a shift of the phase equilibrium of ordering and produce a stable fine two-phase mixture of ordered and disordered phases at the equi-atomic composition of Co:Pt. This results in a fine and uniform stagnant grain structure of about 20nm on annealing at 650'C. The carbon dissolution by increasing the c/a ratio of the ordered CoPt lattice reduces both the saturation magnetization and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant of the film and leads to a reduction of coercivity of CoPt films.

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Grain growth and grain size distributions in thin germanium films

Cited by 156 publications

References 22 publications

Increasing the mean grain size in copper films and features

Increasing the mean grain size in copper films and features

Grain Growth and Texture Evolution in Thin Films

Microstructure and Magnetic Property of L1o CoPt–20 at.% C Magnetic Thin Film

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