Stress and microstructure evolution in Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge thin films

Zhang, Weilin; Ma, Fei; Zhang, Tianwei; Xu, Ke

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2011.01.398

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This morphology (baptized in Ref. [13] as ''inside bundling-outside grooving'') that does not correspond to the typical percolative morphology resulting from the random grain coalescence; it has been reported for evaporated polycrystalline films of Fe [5], Au [13], Cu [14], Ag [15], Al [16], and Sn [17]. (IV) The formation of such structures involves the generation (irreversible at short-range and reversible at long one) of in-plane texture via grain reorientation as revealed by surface-orientation maps and -scan x-ray diffraction (XRD) [13].…”

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confidence: 87%

Postcoalescence Evolution of Growth Stress in Polycrystalline Films

2013

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The growth stress generated once grains coalesce in Volmer-Weber-type thin films is investigated by time-multiscale simulations comprising complementary modules of (i) finite-element modeling to address the interactions between grains happening at atomic vibration time scales ($ 0:1 ps), (ii) dynamic scaling to account for the surface stress relaxation via morphology changes at surface diffusion time scales ($ s-ms), and (iii) the mesoscopic rate equation approach to simulate the bulk stress relaxation at deposition time scales ($ sec-h). On the basis of addressing the main experimental evidence reported so far on the topic dealt with, the simulation results provide key findings concerning the interplay between anisotropic grain interactions at complementary space scales, deposition conditions (such as flux and mobility), and mechanisms of stress accommodation-relaxation, which underlies the origin, nature and spatial distribution, and the flux dependence of the postcoalescence growth stress.

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confidence: 87%

Postcoalescence Evolution of Growth Stress in Polycrystalline Films

2013

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“…[15][16][17] Among them, the Al-induced crystallization (AIC) of a-Ge, originally developed for Si, [18][19][20][21] is gathering the most attentions. [22][23][24][25] Recently, the AIC enabled the preferentially (111)-oriented poly-Ge layers with relatively large grains through the layer exchange process between Ge and Al. [26][27][28] Moreover, we have significantly improved the (111) orientation fraction and the grain size of the AIC-Ge by forming a diffusion controlling interlayer (AlO x ) between Ge and Al.…”

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confidence: 99%

Low-temperature (180 °C) formation of large-grained Ge (111) thin film on insulator using accelerated metal-induced crystallization

Toko¹,

Numata²,

N³

et al. 2014

Applied Physics Letters

100

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The Al-induced crystallization (AIC) yields a large-grained (111)-oriented Ge thin film on an insulator at temperatures as low as 180 C. We accelerated the AIC of an amorphous Ge layer (50-nm thickness) by initially doping Ge in Al and by facilitating Ge diffusion into Al. The electron backscatter diffraction measurement demonstrated the simultaneous achievement of large grains over 10 lm and a high (111) orientation fraction of 90% in the polycrystalline Ge layer formed at 180 C. This result opens up the possibility for developing Ge-based electronic and optical devices fabricated on inexpensive flexible substrates. V

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“…Solid selenium can exist in several forms, including amorphous, hexagonal, α-monoclinic and β-monoclinic structures 12 . In the precursor structure of Mo/Cu–Ga–In/Se it is believed that the crystallization of amorphous Se layer is accompanied by significant volume change, subsequently resulting in mechanical stress of the metal precursor 13,14 . This subsequently results in poor adhesion of the CIGS layer to Mo, as evidenced by the delamination of CIGS layers from Mo after selenization and/or sulfurization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detailed Visualization of Phase Evolution during Rapid Formation of Cu(InGa)Se2 Photovoltaic Absorber from Mo/CuGa/In/Se Precursors

Koo

Kim

Cheon

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Amongst several processes which have been developed for the production of reliable chalcopyrite Cu(InGa)Se2 photovoltaic absorbers, the 2–step metallization–selenization process is widely accepted as being suitable for industrial–scale application. Here we visualize the detailed thermal behavior and reaction pathways of constituent elements during commercially attractive rapid thermal processing of glass/Mo/CuGa/In/Se precursors on the basis of the results of systematic characterization of samples obtained from a series of quenching experiments with set-temperatures between 25 and 550 °C. It was confirmed that the Se layer crystallized and then melted between 250 and 350 °C, completely disappearing at 500 °C. The formation of CuInSe2 and Cu(InGa)Se2 was initiated at around 450 °C and 550 °C, respectively. It is suggested that pre-heat treatment to control crystallization of Se layer should be designed at 250–350 °C and Cu(InGa)Se2 formation from CuGa/In/Se precursors can be completed within a timeframe of 6 min.

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Stress and microstructure evolution in Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge thin films

Cited by 26 publications

References 21 publications

Postcoalescence Evolution of Growth Stress in Polycrystalline Films

Postcoalescence Evolution of Growth Stress in Polycrystalline Films

Low-temperature (180 °C) formation of large-grained Ge (111) thin film on insulator using accelerated metal-induced crystallization

Detailed Visualization of Phase Evolution during Rapid Formation of Cu(InGa)Se2 Photovoltaic Absorber from Mo/CuGa/In/Se Precursors

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