Formation of the Si/Cu interface

Abstract

The growth of evaporated Si on polycrystalline Cu has been investigated by means of ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and atomic force microscopy techniques. Thus, by analyzing the AES intensity evolution with Si coverage, AES lineshape and energy position of the main valence band features, we have found that room-temperature Si deposition leads to the formation of a reacted phase ∼20 A thick, most likely corresponding to the eutectic Cu 3 Si. On top of this phase grows an amorphous Si layer. In this paper we study the difference between the height of the Schottky barrier formed on the reacted phase and that obtained on an atomically sharp interface, and some reported values.