In situ study of the endotaxial growth of hexagonal CoSi2 nanoplatelets in Si(001)

Abstract

This investigation aims at studying-by in situ grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering-the process of growth of hexagonal CoSi2 nanoplatelets endotaxially buried in a Si(001) wafer. The early formation of spherical Co nanoparticles with bimodal size distribution in the deposited silica thin film during a pretreatment at 500 °C and their subsequent growth at 700 °C were also characterized. Isothermal annealing at 700 °C promotes a drastic reduction in the number of the smallest Co nanoparticles and a continuous decrease in their volume fraction in the silica thin film. At the same time, Co atoms diffuse across the SiO2/Si(001) interface into the silicon wafer, react with Si, and build up thin hexagonal CoSi2 nanoplatelets, all of them with their main surfaces parallel to Si{111} crystallographic planes. The observed progressive growths in thickness and lateral size of the hexagonal CoSi2 nanoplatelets occur at the expense of the dissolution of the small Co nanoparticles that are formed during the pretreatment at 500 °C and become unstable at the annealing temperature (700 °C). The kinetics of growth of the volume fraction of hexagonal platelets is well described by the classical Avrami equation.