In situ study of the endotaxial growth of hexagonal CoSi{sub 2} nanoplatelets in Si(001)

Journal Article · Mon Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936377· OSTI ID:22486161

Silva Costa, Daniel da; Kellermann, Guinther ^[1]; Huck-Iriart, Cristián; Giovanetti, Lisandro J.; Requejo, Félix G. ^[2]; Craievich, Aldo F. ^[3]

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1. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19044, Curitiba, Paraná 81531-990 (Brazil)
2. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA, CONICET, Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata), CC/16 suc. 4, 1900 La Plata (Argentina)
3. Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, CP 66318, CEP 05315-970, São Paulo (Brazil)

This investigation aims at studying–by in situ grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering–the process of growth of hexagonal CoSi{sub 2} nanoplatelets endotaxially buried in a Si(001) wafer. The early formation of spherical Co nanoparticles with bimodal size distribution in the deposited silica thin film during a pretreatment at 500 °C and their subsequent growth at 700 °C were also characterized. Isothermal annealing at 700 °C promotes a drastic reduction in the number of the smallest Co nanoparticles and a continuous decrease in their volume fraction in the silica thin film. At the same time, Co atoms diffuse across the SiO{sub 2}/Si(001) interface into the silicon wafer, react with Si, and build up thin hexagonal CoSi{sub 2} nanoplatelets, all of them with their main surfaces parallel to Si(111) crystallographic planes. The observed progressive growths in thickness and lateral size of the hexagonal CoSi{sub 2} nanoplatelets occur at the expense of the dissolution of the small Co nanoparticles that are formed during the pretreatment at 500 °C and become unstable at the annealing temperature (700 °C). The kinetics of growth of the volume fraction of hexagonal platelets is well described by the classical Avrami equation.

• OSTI ID: 22486161
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 22; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANNEALING
COBALT SILICIDES
DEPOSITS
DISSOLUTION
DISTRIBUTION
INTERFACES
NANOPARTICLES
NANOSTRUCTURES
SILICON OXIDES
SMALL ANGLE SCATTERING
THIN FILMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION