Crystallization of amorphous silicon during thin-film gold reaction

Abstract

The crystallization of a‐Si in a‐Si (50‐nm) and Au (5‐nm) thin‐film bilayers has been investigated during heat treatment in a transmission electron microscope. When crystallization of a‐Si first begins at 130 °C, the Au‐Si alloy (Au and a precursor phase) reflections observed at lower temperatures vanish, and several new reflections from metastable Au‐Si compounds occur. Dendritically growing islands of poly‐Si are observed after heating at 175 °C. If the samples are held at a constant temperature of 175 °C for 10 min, the poly‐Si islands coalesce. The formation of poly‐Si depends on the diffusion of Au into a‐Si and the formation of metastable Au‐Si compounds, which act as transport phases for both Si and Au. After crystallization Au segregates to the front and back surfaces of the poly‐Si film. The result of this work and earlier diffraction investigations are interpreted in terms of superlattices based on a sublattice. A fundamental body‐centered‐cubic structure with a=5.52 Å and composition Au₄Si is suggested for the Au‐Si compounds.