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Nucleation And Growth Rates in Isothermal Crystallization OpAmorphous Si50Ge50 Films
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Abstract
Isothermal crystallization behavior of as-deposited thin amorphous Si50Ge50 films (∼1000Å-thick) at 580°C has beeninvestigated using transmission electron Microscopy (TEM). The crystalcounting method was employed in order to obtain directly the two-dimensionalsteady-state crystal nucleation rate of 3.9×103#/cm2sec (equivalent volumetric nucleation rate of 3.4×108 #/cm3sec). The Modified two-dimensionalJohnson-Mehl-Avrami analysis, in which the growth rate of the crystals wasthe only adjustable parameter, and in which the time-dependent nucleationrate and the size effect associated with the onset of the observation areconsidered, was developed in order to extract the crystal growth rate of16.5 Å/sec. When compared to the crystallization of a-Si films, thesenucleation and growth rates confirm the observation that it is possible toachieve significantly faster crystallization at lower temperatures whileproducing substantially better Microstructures (i.e., > 5 μ grain-sized poly-Si50Ge50obtained within two hours at 580°C vs. 1–2Μm grain-sized poly-Si obtained inabout > 10 hours at 600°C).
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