Formation of amorphous interlayers by solid-state diffusion in ultrahigh-vacuum-deposited polycrystalline Nb and Ta thin films on (111)Si

Journal Article · Mon Jan 07 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Applied Physics Letters; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.104438· OSTI ID:6260843

Cheng, J Y; Chen, L J ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China (TW)

The formation of amorphous interlayers ({ital a}-interlayers) in ultrahigh-vacuum-deposited polycrystalline Nb and Ta thin films on (111)Si has been studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The growth of {ital a} interlayers was found to follow a linear growth law initially in samples annealed at 450--500 {degree}C and 550--625 {degree}C for Nb/Si and Ta/Si, respectively. The growth then slows down and deviates from a linear growth behavior as a critical thickness of the {ital a} interlayer was reached. The {ital a} interlayer/crystalline Si interface was found to be rather smooth. The roughness of the interface between the Nb layer and {ital a} interlayer was observed to decrease with annealing temperature and time. The observation suggested that the growth of the {ital a} interlayer was interface reaction controlled initially.

• OSTI ID: 6260843
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters; (USA), Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters; (USA) Vol. 58:1; ISSN APPLA; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360104* -- Metals & Alloys-- Physical Properties
ANNEALING
ATOM TRANSPORT
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
FILMS
HEAT TREATMENTS
INTERFACES
METALS
MICROSCOPY
NEUTRAL-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
NIOBIUM
RADIATION TRANSPORT
ROUGHNESS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TANTALUM
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ULTRAHIGH VACUUM