Growth of platinum silicide under protective layers

Abstract
Fast growth and total formation of platinum silicide can be obtained by using a chromium, silicon nitride, or sputtered silicon film to protect the platinum from the unfavorable effects of small amounts of oxygen contained in the furnace during annealing. X‐ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering analysis were used for identifying the silicides and studying their growth kinetics. The simultaneous growth of the two phases Pt2Si and PtSi was observed. The thickness of Pt2Si and PtSi increased in proportion to the square root of the annealing time with an activation energy of about 2 eV. At higher temperature (∼800 °C), solid‐phase epitaxial growth (SPEG) of silicon was found in the (Si〈111〉)/PtSi/Si amorphous system.