Diffusion marker experiments with rare-earth silicides: The case of lutetium silicide

Abstract

A marker study of the lutetium silicide prepared by vacuum furnace annealing of a Lu thin layer on Si substrate shows that Si atoms are the dominant diffusing species during the formation of LuSi2−x. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry is used to determine the position of the marker before and after the annealing. The silicide films are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.