Silicide precipitation and silicon crystallization in nickel implanted amorphous silicon thin films

Abstract

The nucleation and growth kinetics of NiSi2 precipitation in amorphous silicon thin films ion implanted with nickel was investigated using scanning transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the nucleation rate could be approximately described by a delta function at time t = 0 when the films were annealed between 325 and 400 °C. The growth kinetics of the precipitates at these temperatures were described by r ∝ tn, where r was the average radius and n was about 1/3. This behavior is consistent with models for growth of three-dimensional particles in a two-dimensional diffusion field. It was also found that the implanted amorphous films displayed an enhanced rate of single crystal silicon formation, apparently catalyzed by migrating silicide precipitates.

Enhanced crystallization of amorphous Si using viscous Ni solution and microwave annealing

“…al. studied the mechanism of Ni silicide mediated crystallization with in situ TEM observation [12][13][14]. They reported that Ni reacts with Si to form NiSi 2 precipitates and crystalline Si nucleates at the surface of the NiSi 2 precipitates.…”

Oriented Lateral Growth and Defects in Polycrystalline-Silicon Thin Films on Glass Substrates

“…The nucleation temperature of a-Si is decreased by the addition of a catalytic metal; the process is referred to as MILC and catalyst-assisted SPC (Kawatsu et al, 1990;Cammarata & Thompson, 1990;Takayama et al, 2000). Although metals such as Al, Mo, Ni, Pd, and Ti have been applied to cause MILC, Ni is the most frequently used catalyst.…”

Formation of nickel disilicide using nickel implantation and rapid thermal annealing

“…5,6 Recently, a Ni implantation technique combined with thermal annealing has also been employed to investigate the formation behavior of NiSi 2 . 7,8 For example, Cammarata et al, 9,10 investigating the formation behavior of NiSi 2 in Ni-implanted, amorphous-Si thin films, showed that crystalline NiSi 2 precipitates are formed in the amorphous-Si films during thermal annealing. It was further shown that the nucleation rate of NiSi 2 could be expressed by a delta function at t ϭ 0 for temperatures of 325-400°C.…”