Gold-Induced Crystallization of Thin Films of Amorphous Silicon Suboxide

Gold-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon suboxide ( a -SiO x ) has been used for the first time to obtain polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si). It is established that the annealing of a substrate/thin gold film/thin a -SiO 0.2 film structure at 335°C leads to the formation of poly-Si in the lower layer (on the substrate), while gold diffuses to the upper layer. As the annealing temperature is increased to 370°C, the mechanism of poly-Si formation remains the same, but the rate of crystallization increases. Evidently, poly-Si formation proceeds via synthesis of gold silicides followed by their nearly complete decomposition to crystalline gold and silicon phases during 10-h annealing at 370°C.