CRYSTALLIZATION OF COEVAPORATED AND ION-IRRADIATED AMORPHOUS COSI2

The crystallization of coevaporated, amorphous CoSi2 with and without ion irradiation has been studied. Without ion irradiation, the crystal lization of amorphous CoSi2 is characterized by three-dimensional grow th from preexisting nuclei. The crystallization kinetics, described by the Avrami equation, are retarded by irradiating the as-deposited CoS i2 with either Si or Kr ions at liquid nitrogen temperature. The dose dependence of the crystallization kinetics can be divided into two reg ions. In the low dose regime, the crystallization kinetics decrease sh arply with increasing dose, while the mode of crystal growth changes c ontinuously from three-dimensional to two-dimensional growth. In the h igh dose regime, the crystallization kinetics are only slightly depend ent on the irradiation dose. Nucleation occurs throughout the crystall ization process and two-dimensional growth dominates.