Interfacial processes in the Pd/a-Ge:H system

F. Edelman*, C. Cytermann, R. Brener, M. Eizenberg, R. Weil, W. Beyer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The kinetics of phase transformation has been studied in a two-layer structure of Pd/a-Ge:H after vacuum annealing at temperatures from 180 to 500°C. The a-Ge:H was deposited at 250°C on both c-Si and cleaved NaCl substrates in an RF glow discharge from a GeH4/H2 mixture. It was found that, similarly to the Pd/c-Ge and the Pd/a-Ge (e-gun deposited) systems, in the case of 0.15-0.2 μm Pd/0.6-1.0 μm a-Ge:H interfacial germanides formed first through the production of Pd2Ge (plus a small amount of PdGe), and then PdGe was produced. The growth of both compounds was found to be diffusion-controlled. The nonreacted a-Ge:H layer beneath the germanide overlayer crystallized at 400-500°C. A reverse sequence of germanides formation was revealed in the case of 50 nm Pd/30 nm a-Ge:H, studied by in situ heat treatment in the TEM utilizing non-supported samples. The first germanide detected was PdGe and then, as a result of PdGe and Ge reaction or the PdGe decomposition, Pd2Ge formed. The temperature dependence of the incubation time before the first ∼ 10 nm PdGe grains formed, followed an Arrhenius curve with an activation energy of 1.45 eV.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)722-726
Number of pages5
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume70-71
Issue numberPART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Jun 1993
Externally publishedYes

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