A COMBINED MOSSBAUER AND RUTHERFORD BACKSCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF NANOSIZED CAVITIES ON COSI2 FORMATION

For Co in Si, the competition between CoSi2 formation and cavity trapp ing is studied by Rutherford backscattering and Mossbauer spectroscopy . The presence of nanosized voids hampers the formation of a buried ep itaxial silicide layer in its initial phase, preventing the small CoSi 2 particles from forming a bulk layer. The Mossbauer spectra show that a pre-existing silicide phase can be partially dissolved in favor of cavity trapping. In addition, channeling measurements provide qualitat ive information about the voids, showing that the thermal stability of the voids is much higher than for defects resulting from self-implant ation. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.