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Crystal Nucleation in Amorphous Si Thin Films During Ion Irradiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

James S. Im  and
Harry A. Atwater
James S. Im
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Laboratories of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
Harry A. Atwater
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Laboratories of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
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Abstract

The nucleation and transformation kinetics of the amorphous-to-crystal transition in Si films under 1.5 MeV Xe+ irradiation have been investigated by means of in situ transmission electron microscopy in the temperature range T = 480–580°C. After an incubation period during which negligible nucleation occurs, a constant nucleation rate was observed in steady state, suggesting homogeneous nucleation. A significant enhancement in nucleation rate during high energy ion irradiation (6 orders of magnitude) was observed as compared with thermal crystallization, with an apparent activation energy of Qn = 3.9 ± 0.75 eV. Independent analyses of the temperature dependence of the incubation time, the crystal growth rate, and nucleation rate suggest that interface rearrangement kinetics and not the thermodynamic barrier to crystallization, are affected by ion irradiation.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 187: Symposium J – Thin Film Structures and Phase Stability , 1990 , 113
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

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