| Abstrakt: |
A comprehensive investigation of metal–alloy induced crystallization (MAIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) is presented. The crystallization processes in three microstructurally principally different, representative types of metal(-alloy)/a-Si systems, Alx(Ge1−x)/a-Si, AgxAl1−x/a-Si, and AlxZn1−x/a-Si, have been monitored by in situ heating x-ray diffraction (XRD) from 25 °C up to 475 °C, until crystallization of a-Si was completed. The obtained experimental results have been systematically compared to predictions obtained by applications of thermodynamic models based on calculations of interface and crystallization energies for the determination of so-called critical thicknesses and initial crystallization temperatures. From the investigation of the MAIC processes in the metal–alloy/a-Si systems, it has been demonstrated that the crystallization temperature and the crystallization kinetics can be well tailored and optimized by controlling the composition and microstructure of the metal alloys. This research, on the one hand, exposes the fundamental, principal role of interface thermodynamics on the crystallization processes and, on the other hand, opens new possibilities for the growth of technologically important, pure, crystalline semiconductor thin films at very low temperatures, as compared to the crystallization temperature of isolated, bulk semiconductor materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
