Electron-irradiation-induced crystallization at metallic amorphous/silicon oxide interfaces caused by electronic excitation

Abstract

Irradiation-induced crystallization of an amorphous phase was stimulated at a Pd-Si amorphous/silicon oxide (a(Pd-Si)/SiOx) interface at 298 K by electron irradiation at acceleration voltages ranging between 25 kV and 200 kV. Under irradiation, a Pd-Si amorphous phase was initially formed at the crystalline face-centered cubic palladium/silicon oxide (Pd/SiOx) interface, followed by the formation of a Pd2Si intermetallic compound through irradiation-induced crystallization. The irradiation-induced crystallization can be considered to be stimulated not by defect introduction through the electron knock-on effects and electron-beam heating, but by the electronic excitation mechanism. The observed irradiation-induced structural change at the a(Pd-Si)/SiOx and Pd/SiOx interfaces indicates multiple structural modifications at the metal/silicon oxide interfaces through electronic excitation induced by the electron-beam processes.