Study of Crystallization and Phase Transformation in Amorphous Co-Si Thin Film by X-ray Diffraction

Abstract

Crystallization and phase transformation of amorphous Co_0.33Si_0.67 thin films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering using CoSi₂ alloy target were researched by X-ray diffraction in situ. The results showed that CoSi formed firstly at 250°C and some of the films were still amorphous. The residual amorphous films transformed to CoSi₂ at 300°C, CoSi and CoSi₂ remained stable at 350—500°C and CoSi transformed to CoSi₂ when the temperature was elevated further. The first phase that precipitated from the amorphous Co-Si films was decided by the effective heat of formation of phases and the short-range structure of amorphous films.