Surface and Interface Morphology of Small Islands of TiSi2 and ZrSi2 ON (001) Silicon

Abstract
The morphology of small islands of TiSi2 and ZrSi2 on Si(100) is investigated and compared to larger islands in terms of a solid state capillarity model. The silicide islands are formed by deposition of very thin layers of titanium and zirconium (3–50Å) followed by an anneal at high temperatures (700–1200 °C). SEM and cross-sectional HRTEM are used to study respectively the surface and interface morphology. It is found that the C49-phase for TiSi2 is stable for layers as thin as 8Å, and annealing temperatures as high as 1200°C. An explanation for the fact that the formed islands align parallel to the Si directions is given in terms of interplanar lattice spacings.