Effect of gold layer thickness on the low-temperature crystallization process of germanium thin films by gold-induced crystallization

Abstract

The effect of Au layer thickness (1, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 nm) on the low-temperature crystallization of Ge thin films (30 nm) was examined. It is found that the best Ge crystallinity is achieved at an Au layer thickness of 2.5 nm. This finding will open up the possibility to reduce the amount of Au consumption in the low-temperature crystallization process of Ge thin films.

State of the art of ultra-thin gold layers: formation fundamentals and applications

“…[116][117][118][120][121][122] N. Sunthornpan et al investigated how the thickness of the Au seed layer affected the low-temperature crystallization process of Ge thin lms. 122 Au layers with variable thicknesses of 1 nm, 2.5 nm, 5 nm, 7.5 nm, and 10 nm were rst sputter-deposited on the Si substrates, followed by the amorphous Ge thin lms (30 nm) deposition also by the sputter deposition. Then, the as-obtained samples were annealed from 150 C to 200 C in order to realize the crystallization of deposited Ge thin lms.…”

“…In recent years, more and more applications based on UTGL configurations have been reported, including the examples from optical applications, 6,7,96–106 electronic device applications, 107–115 and as seed layers. 116–125…”

“…Besides the applications for optical properties and electronic devices, UTGLs were also reported to act as the seed layer for the growth of other thin lms. [116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125] Regarding the Au-induced thin lm growth, using UTGLs to facilitate the formation of crystalline germanium (c-Ge) thin lms is among the examples which attracted interests in recent years. [116][117][118][120][121][122] N. Sunthornpan et al investigated how the thickness of the Au seed layer affected the low-temperature crystallization process of Ge thin lms.…”

“…[116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125] Regarding the Au-induced thin lm growth, using UTGLs to facilitate the formation of crystalline germanium (c-Ge) thin lms is among the examples which attracted interests in recent years. [116][117][118][120][121][122] N. Sunthornpan et al investigated how the thickness of the Au seed layer affected the low-temperature crystallization process of Ge thin lms. 122 Au layers with variable thicknesses of 1 nm, 2.5 nm, 5 nm, 7.5 nm, and 10 nm were rst sputter-deposited on the Si substrates, followed by the amorphous Ge thin lms (30 nm) deposition also by the sputter deposition.…”

Crystallization of Ge thin films by Au-induced layer exchange: effect of Au layer thickness on Ge crystal orientation

“…6) The metal-induced crystallization (MIC) technique is extensively studied to realize high-quality crystalline Ge thin films at low temperature. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The crystallization temperature by the MIC process is much lower than that by solid phase crystallization method. 17,18) Moreover, this technique is more simple and easier to adapt to large area processing than laser annealing.…”