Precipitation of Copper and Cobalt at Grain Boundaries in Silicon

Abstract

AbstractThe precipitation of copper and (radioactive) cobalt at low energy grain boundaries in polycrystalline silicon and bicrystals is investigated. The metals are diffused in from a surface source between 800 - 1000 °C and the precipitation after cooling down is studied by TEM (for Cu) and Mößbauer spectroscopy (for Co). The precipitates are metal suicides. For copper it is shown that they appear in form of colonies containing hundreds of precipitates with a particle size between 5-60 nm. In the grain boundary they nucleate preferentially at dislocations and steps. The distribution and size of the precipitates depend on the cooling rate after the diffusion. In the vicinity of the grain boundary the volume is depleted from the impurities.