ALUMINUM-INDUCED CRYSTALLIZATION OF AMORPHOUS-GERMANIUM

Crystallization morphologies and kinetic processes have been studied i n amorphous germanium (a-Gel films in contact with aluminium (Al) laye rs of various thickness. The well-known spherulitic crystallization ha s been observed in a-Ge/Al/a-Ge trilayers with Al layer thickness abov e 10 nm. The kinetics of this growth was followed by electrical conduc tivity measurement of the a-Ge/Al bilayer. In the case of the thinnest Al layer (below 4 nm) fibre-like Ge crystal growth was found. The mea surement results suggest that the crystallization of the amorphous Ge layers was controlled by diffusion processes.