Interdiffusion in Si/Ge amorphous multilayer films

Abstract

Multilayered or compositionally modulated amorphous Si/amorphous Ge films with a repeat length of 5.83 nm have been fabricated using ion beam sputtering. The interdiffusion coefficient Dλ was determined by measuring the intensity of the x-ray satellite arising from the modulation as a function of annealing time. The interdiffusion was found to be relatively rapid, in that it could be measured easily without crystallization occurring. The temperature dependence in the range 550–630 K is described by Dλ=1.07 × 10−10 exp (−1.6 eV/kT) m2s−1.