Reactive Heteroepitaxial Film Growth - Nucleation and Morphology of Silicide-Silicon Interfaces

本研究的目的是研究金属-硅界面上新相的成核，并确定它们如何导致硅半导体中的外延层。硅化物相的生长将在原位和制备后进行研究。实验探针将确定原子构型（使用扫描隧道显微镜），振动模式（使用拉曼散射）和电子状态（使用俄歇电子和x射线光发射光谱）。界面反应将根据成核理论进行建模，实验测量将确定临界簇大小和成核势垒。衬底拓扑结构（步骤和重构）对成核过程和随后的生长的影响将被确定。该研究与半导体工业集成电子互连和栅极材料的加工高度相关。

The objective of the investigation is to study the nucleation of new phases at the metal-silicon interface, and to determine how they can lead to epitaxial layers in silicon semiconductors. The growth of the silicide phases will be studied both in-situ and post preparation. The experimental probes will determine the atomic configurations (using scanning tunneling microscopy), the vibrational modes (using Raman scattering), and the electronic states (using Auger electron and x-ray photoemission spectroscopies). The interface reactions will be modelled in terms of nucleation theory, and the experimental measurements will determine the critical cluster size and the nucleation barrier. The effects of substrate topology (steps and reconstruction) on the nucleation process and subsequent growth will be determined. The research is highly relevant to the processing of interconnect and gate materials for integrated electronics for the semiconductor industry.