Impact of Ge pre-amorphization implantation on forming ultrathin TiGex on both n- and p-Ge substrate

Abstract

In this work, the effects of Ge pre-amorphization implantation (PAI) on forming ultrathin TiGex films at 350–600 °C are explored. It is found that the Ge PAI indeed enhances the formation of TiGex at relatively low temperature, as confirmed by the lower sheet resistance and thicker TiGex films compared to the case without Ge PAI. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) reveals that the composition of as-formed TiGex across its thickness is rather graded than constant. Characterizations using advanced autocorrelation function (ACF) in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrate that numerous Ti6Ge5 and Ti5Ge3 nanocrystals are embedded in as-formed amorphous TiGex film.