Influence of Ni concentration on the crystallization of amorphous Si films and on the development of different Ni-silicide phases

Abstract

The crystallization mechanism was the subject of the present study which reports on the structure, and the Ni-silicide formation, of Si films containing different concentrations of Ni. The films were prepared by sputtering and were analyzed by compositional and structural characterization techniques. Additional information was obtained by thermal annealing the films up to 800 °C. The experimental results indicated that, in the as-deposited form, the films are amorphous, homogeneous, and with Ni contents in the ∼0–40 at. % range. Moreover, the development of Si and/or Ni-silicide crystalline structures was susceptible to factors like the Ni concentration, the annealing temperature and the annealing process (if cumulative or not, for example).