Abstract
Amorphous Si (a-Si) and Ni films were deposited by electron beam evaporation on to borosilicate glass (BSG) substrate maintained at ambient temperature. The BSG/a-Si/Ni stack was subjected to post deposition annealing in air at various temperatures from 200 to 500 °C for 1 h. Electron diffraction was employed to characterize the crystallographic phases appearing on the stacks that were depending on initial conditions. Clear evidence of the formation of hexagonal Si and fcc NiSi2 was shown by TEM. In parallel, an increase of refraction index was observed. Electrical resistivity measurements showed that resistance is of the order of kilo ohms in the as-deposited films, increasing sharply to giga ohms in films annealed at T higher than 300 °C. A large band gap of 2.23 eV which is the combined contribution from a-Si, wurtzite-Si, and Ni silicide phases, is observed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Choi JH, Cheon JH, Kim SK, Jang J (2005) Giant-grain silicon (GGS) and its application to stable thin-film transistor. Displays 26:137–142
Ferri FA, Zanatta AR, Chambouleyron I (2006) Metal induced nanocrystalline structure in Ni containing amorphous Silicon thin films. J Appl Phys 100:94311–94317
Grisenti R, Dalba G, Fornasini P, Rocca F, Koppolu UMK, Krishna MG (2008) XAFS study of Ni surroundings in metal induced crystallization of thin film amorphous silicon. Solid State Commun 147:401–404
James SI, Sposili RS, Crowder MA (1997) Single-crystal Si films for thin-film transistor devices. Appl Phys Lett 70:3434–3436
Jin Z, Moulding K, Kwok HS, Wong M (1999) The effects of extended heat treatment on Ni induced lateral crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 46:78–82
Kuo Y, Suzuki K (2002) Advanced flat-panel displays and materials. MRS Bull 27:859–863
Maramatsu SI, Minagawa Y, Oka F, Sasaki T, Yazawa Y (2002) Thin-film c-Si solar cells prepared by metal-induced crystallization. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 74:275–281
Marom H, Eizenberg M (2006) The effect of surface roughness on the resistivity increase in nanometric dimensions. J Appl Phys 99:123705–123712
Miyao M, Tsunoda I, Sadoh Y, Kenjo A (2001) Ion-beam stimulated solid-phase crystallization of amorphous Si on SiO2. Thin Solid Films 383:104–106
Nakajima Y, Kida Y, Murase M, Toyoshima Y, Maki Y (2004) Latest developments for ‘system-on-glass’ displays using low-temperature poly-Si TFTs. J Soc Inf Disp 12:361–365
Schropp REI, Zeman M (1998) Amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells: modeling, materials and device technology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston
Swanepoel RS (1983) Determination of the thickness and optical constants of amorphous silicon. J Phps E Sci Instrum 16:1214–1221
Wang M, Wong M (2001) Characterization of an individual grain boundary in metal-induced laterally crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin-film devices. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 48:1655–1660
Williams BT, Gurman SJ, Baker SH, Davis EA (2000) Structure and properties of amorphous silicon–metal alloys: I. The Si1 − xNix system. J Phys Condens Matter 12:5971–5980
Acknowledgments
This study has been carried out under the India-Trento (University of Trento, Italy), program for advanced research (ITPAR) funded by the DST, New Delhi, India. The authors acknowledge the facilities provided by the School of Physics under the UGC-CAS and UPE programs and the centre for Nanotechnology funded by the DST.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mohiddon, M.A., Lakshun Naidu, K., Ghanashyam Krishna, M. et al. Growth, optical, and electrical properties of silicon films produced by the metal-induced crystallization process. J Nanopart Res 13, 5999–6004 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-011-0444-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-011-0444-6