Diffusion-controlled formation mechanism of dual-phase structure during Al induced crystallization of SiGe

Aluminum induced crystallization of amorphous SiGe at low temperature is studied and a dual-phase stacked structure with different compositions emerges when the annealing temperature is higher than a critical value. This behavior is very sensitive to the oxidization state of the interlayer. A model based on energetics is proposed to elucidate this temperature dependent behavior. Thermodynamically, it can be ascribed to the competition between grain-boundary-mediated and interface-mediated crystallization and kinetically, it stems from the different diffusion rates of Si and Ge. The results are useful to the design and fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.