Effect of palladium on sintering and transformations in iron silicide

Abstract

Growth of alpha phase aluminum alloyed iron silicide (α-phase FeSi(Al)) ternary alloy on silicon (Si) substrate at a temperature of 600 °C has been reported. The α-phase FeSi(Al) thin films are grown on Si substrate by using conventional sputter deposition and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment. The transition temperature of α-phase FeSi2 reduces to 600 °C through incorporating aluminum into the silicide films. Thickness of amorphous silicide layer and aluminum composition are very critical to grow highly texture α-FeSi(Al) layer at a lower temperature. The α-FeSi(Al) film shows a preferential orientation (001) after annealed at temperature of 600 °C through the formation of thin film epitaxial silicon at the interface. The α-FeSi(Al) films tends to show a polycrystalline nature with the increase on annealing temperature to 700 °C. The α-FeSi(Al) ternary alloy has high work function of ∼5.3 eV. The low temperature grown α-phase FeSi(Al) can be applied for renewable energy and electronic applications as an electrode.