Abstract
The growth kinetics of amorphous interlayers (a interlayers) formed by solid-state diffusion in ultrahigh vacuum deposited polycrystalline Ti thin films on germanium and epitaxial Si1−xGex (x=0.3, 0.4 and 0.7) alloys grown on (001) Si and (111) Ge has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. The growth of a interlayers in all systems was found to follow a linear growth behavior initially. The activation energies for the linear growth of a interlayers were found to decrease with the Ge content and are 1.0±0.2, 0.95±0.2, 0.85±0.2, and 0.7±0.2 eV for Ti/Si0.7Ge0.3, Ti/Si0.6Ge0.4, Ti/Si0.3Ge0.7, and Ti/Ge systems, respectively. The maximum thickness of a interlayer was found to increase with the Ge content with x⩽0.4. On the other hand, the formation temperature of crystalline phase was observed to decrease with the Ge content. Essential factors for the formation and growth of a interlayer are discussed. The results are compared with the Ti/Si system.
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