Atomic diffusion in thin film reactions

✍ Scribed by A.L. Greer

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 510 KB
• Volume: 134
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-5093
• DOI: 10.1016/0921-5093(91)90971-o

✦ Synopsis

Amorphous interfacial reaction layers are widely found in metal-silicon and metal-metal thin film systems and may be significant in themselves or in controlling the selection of crystalline reaction products. Such layers show a marked asymmetry in the diffusivities of their component species. For early/late transition metal combinations it is suggested that the asymmetry leads to a loss of internal equilibrium in the amorphous phase during its formation. The implications of this loss for the thermodynamics and kinetics of amorphous phase growth are discussed.