A total of 3000 Angstrom Tb followed by 200 Angstrom Si (to reduce oxidatio
n of Tb during annealing) was deposited onto SiO2. The samples were anneale
d at 500 degrees C from 7 to 97 min in HV. Rutherford backscattering (RBS)
studies were performed on the annealed Tb on SiO2 samples. A real-time RES
technique was also used to study the effect of annealing. The sample was qu
ickly heated to 320 degrees C and, thereafter, ramped at 1 degrees C/min up
to 600 degrees C. A similar experiment was repeated with Dy but without a
capping Si layer. The real-time RES technique for SiO2/Dy was done by heati
ng the sample quickly to 520 degrees C and keeping it constant at this temp
erature. The SiO2/Tb sample was transformed to SiO2(substrate)/silicide/oxi
de (the reaction of the cap layer ignored) after 7 min at 500 degrees C. Af
ter prolonged annealing at high temperatures, both the SiO2/Tb and SiO2/Dy
samples were transformed to SiO2 (substrate)/metal oxide/metal silicide (wi
th oxygen)/metal oxide. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rig
hts reserved.