Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T08:15:26.329Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Contributions of Electron Microscopy to the Understanding of Reactions on Compound Semiconductor Surfaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

T. Sands*
Affiliation:
Bell Communications Research, Inc., Murray Hill, NJ 07974 and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Get access

Abstract

Reacted films on compound semiconductor substrates present challenging materials characterization problems which often require the application of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. In this paper, both the problem - solving potential of the TEM techniques and the limits imposed by preparation of thin film/compound semiconductor TEM specimens are discussed. Studies of the Ni/GaAs, CuCl(aq)/CdS and Pd/GaAs reactions exemplify the role of TEM in identifying and determining the spatial distribution of interface - stabilized polymorphs and new ternary phases (e.g. tetragonal Cu2S, Ni3GaAs and PdxGaAs). These examples also serve to clarify the relationship between TEM and complementary analysis techniques such as Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy and glancing-angle x-ray diffraction. In particular, it is argued that a combination of (1) high-spatial-resolution information obtained by TEM and (2) an indication of the “average” behavior provided by data from a complementary characterization technique provide the minimum quality and quantity of data necessary to understand most reactions on compound semiconductor substrates.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. The term “surface” is used loosely here in the description of reactions which initiate at the original semiconductor surface resulting in the propagation of an interface into the compound semiconductor.Google Scholar
2. Mayer, J. W. and Poate, J. M., in Thin Films - Interdiffusion and Reactions, edited by Poate, J. M., Tu, K. N. and Mayer, J. W. (Wiley, New York, 1978) p. 119.Google Scholar
3. Chew, N. G. and Cullis, A. G., Appl. Phys. Lett. 44, 142 (1984).Google Scholar
4. Sands, T., Keramidas, V. G., Yu, A. J., Yu, K. M., Gronsky, R. and Washburn, J., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Thin Films - Interfaces and Phenomena, Fall meeting, 1985, in press.Google Scholar
5. Palmstrom, C. J. and Morgan, D. V. in Gallium Arsenide, edited by Howes, M. J. and Morgan, D. V. (Wiley, New York, 1985) p. 229.Google Scholar
6. Ogawa, M., Thin Solid Films 70, 181 (1980).Google Scholar
7. Lahav, A., Eizenberg, M. and Komen, Y., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 37, 641 (1985).Google Scholar
8. Mayer, J. W. and Poate, J. M., in Thin Films - Interdiffusion and Reactions, edited by Poate, J. M., Tu, K. N. and Mayer, J. W. (Wiley, New York, 1978) p. 144.Google Scholar
9. Sands, T., Keramidas, V. G., Washburn, J. and Gronsky, R., Appl. Phys. Lett. (1986), in press.Google Scholar
10. Shiozawa, L. R., Sullivan, G. A. and Augustine, F., Proc. 7th IEEE Photovoltaics Spec. Conf. (IEEE, New York, 1968) p. 39.Google Scholar
11. Skinner, B. J., Econ. Geology 65, 724 (1970).Google Scholar
12. Sands, T., Washburn, J. and Gronsky, R., Solar Energy Materials 10, 349 (1984).Google Scholar
13. Powder Diffraction File (JCPDS International Centre for Diffraction Data, Swarthmore, Penn., 1980).Google Scholar
14. Olowolafe, J. O., Ho, P. S., Hovel, M. J., Lewis, J. E. and Woodall, J. M., J. Appl. Phys. 50, 955 (1979).Google Scholar
15. Zeng, X-F. and Chung, D. D. L., J. Vac. Sci. Technol., 21, 611 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Oelhafen, P., Freeouf, J. L., Kuan, T. S., Jackson, T. N. and Batson, P. E., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1, 588 (1983).Google Scholar
17. Kuan, T. S., Freeouf, J. L., Batson, P. E. and Wilkie, E. L., J. Appl. Phys. 58, 1519 (1985).Google Scholar
18. Sands, T., Keramidas, V. G., Gronsky, R. and Washburn, J., Mat. Lett. 3, 409 (1985); Thin Solid Films (1985), in press.Google Scholar