XRD and XPS Characterisation of Transition Metal Silicide Thin Films

Journal article, 2012

Binary transition metal silicides based on the systems Ti-Si, Fe-Si, Ni-Si and Cr-Si were fabricated on Si wafers by means of ion-beam co-sputter deposition and subsequent annealing. The crystalline structures of the phases formed were identified from the characteristic patterns acquired by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The phase formation sequences were described by means of the Pretorius’ effective heat of formation (EHF) model. For the Ti-Si, Fe-Si and Ni-Si systems, single phase thin films of TiSi2, β-FeSi2 and NiSi2 were generated as the model predicts, while a mixture of CrSi + CrSi2 phases was obtained for the Cr-Si system. The surface chemical condition of individual specimens were analysed by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The chemical shifts of transition metal 2p3/2 peaks from their metallic to silicide states were depicted by means of the Auger parameters and the Wagner plots. The positive chemical shift of 2.0 eV for Ni 2p3/2 peak of NiSi2 is mainly governed by the initial-state effects. For the other silicide specimens, the initial-state and final-state effects may oppose one another with similar impact. Consequently, smaller binding energy shifts of both negative and positive character are noted; a positive binding energy shift of 0.3 eV for the Fe 2p3/2 level was shown for β-FeSi2 and negative binding energy shifts of 0.1 and 0.3 eV were determined for CrSi + CrSi2 and TiSi2, respectively.