The objective of the investigation is to study the nucleation of new phases at the metal-silicon interface, and to determine how they can lead to epitaxial layers in silicon semiconductors. The growth of the silicide phases will be studied both in-situ and post preparation. The experimental probes will determine the atomic configurations (using scanning tunneling microscopy), the vibrational modes (using Raman scattering), and the electronic states (using Auger electron and x-ray photoemission spectroscopies). The interface reactions will be modelled in terms of nucleation theory, and the experimental measurements will determine the critical cluster size and the nucleation barrier. The effects of substrate topology (steps and reconstruction) on the nucleation process and subsequent growth will be determined. The research is highly relevant to the processing of interconnect and gate materials for integrated electronics for the semiconductor industry.
