Part I. Kinetics of coarsening of the gamma-prime precipitate in nickel-silicon alloys. Part II. Rate of crystallization of an amorphous Fe-P-C alloy

The coarsening kinetics of Ni₃ Si(γ') precipitate in a binary Ni-Si alloy containing 6.5 wt. % silicon was studied by magnetic techniques and transmission electronmicroscopy. A calibration curve was established to determine the concentration of silicon in the matrix. The variation of the Si content of the Ni-rich matrix as a function of time follows Lifshitz and Wagner theory for diffusion controlled coarsening phenomena. The estimated values of equilibrium solubility of silicon in the matrix represent the true coherent equilibrium solubilities.

The experimental particle-size distributions and average particle size were determined from dark field electron micrographs. The average particle size varies linearly with t^-1/3 as suggested by Lifshitz and Wagner. The experimental distributions of particle sizes differ slightly from the theoretical curve at the early stages of aging, but the agreement is satisfactory at the later stages. The values of diffusion coefficient of silicon, interfacial free energy and activation energy were calculated from the results of coarsening kinetics. The experimental value of effective diffusion coefficient is in satisfactory agreement with the value predicted by the application of irreversible the rmodynamics to the process of volume constrained growth of coherent precipitate during coarsening. The coherent γ' particles in Ni-Sialloy unlike those in Ni-Al and Ni-Ti seem to lose coherency at high temperature. A mechanism for the formation of semi-coherent precipitate is suggested.

I. Reactively sputtered Ti-Si-N thin films for diffusion barrier applications. II. Oxidation, diffusion and crystallization of an amorphous Zr_(60)Al_(15)Ni_(25) alloy.

Films of Ti-Si-N obtained by reactively sputtering a TiSi_2, a Ti_5Si_3, or a Ti_3Si target are either amorphous or nanocrystalline in structure. The atomic density of some films exceeds 10^23 at./cm^3. The room-temperature resistivity of the films increases with the Si and the N content. A thermal treatment in vacuum at 700 °C for 1 hour decreases the resistivity of the Ti-rich films deposited from the Ti_5Si_3 or the Ti_3Si target, but increases that of the Si-rich films deposited from the TiSi_2 target when the nitrogen content exceeds about 30 at. %.

Ti_(34)Si_(23)N_(43) deposited from the Ti_5Si_3 target is an excellent diffusion barrier between Si and Cu. This film is a mixture of nanocrystalline TiN and amorphous SiN_x. Resistivity measurement from 80 K to 1073 K reveals that this film is electrically semiconductor-like as-deposited, and that it becomes metal-like after an hour annealing at 1000 °C in vacuum. A film of about 100 nm thick, with a resistivity of 660 µΩcm, maintains the stability of Si n+p shallow junction diodes with a 400 nm Cu overlayer up to 850 °C upon 30 min vacuum annealing. When used between Si and Al, the maximum temperature of stability is 550 °C for 30 min. This film can be etched in a CF_4/O_2 plasma.

The amorphous ternary metallic alloy Zr_(60)Al_(15)Ni_(25) was oxidized in dry oxygen in the temperature range 310 °C to 410 °C. Rutherford backscattering and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy studies suggest that during this treatment an amorphous layer of zirconium-aluminum-oxide is formed at the surface. Nickel is depleted from the oxide and enriched in the amorphous alloy below the oxide/alloy interface. The oxide layer thickness grows parabolically with the annealing duration, with a transport constant of 2.8x10^(-5) m^2/s x exp(-1.7 eV/kT). The oxidation rate is most likely controlled by the Ni diffusion in the amorphous alloy.

At later stages of the oxidation process, precipitates of nanocrystalline ZrO_2 appear in the oxide near the interface. Finally, two intermetallic phases nucleate and grow simultaneously in the alloy, one at the interface and one within the alloy.

Crystallization of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films induced by a single femtosecond laser pulse

Crystallization is achieved in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films upon irradiation with a single femtosecond laser pulse. Transmission electron microscopy images evidence the morphology of the crystallized spot which depends on the fluence of the ferntosecond laser pulse. Fine crystalline grains are induced at low fluence, and the coarse crystalline grains are obtained at high fluence. At the damage fluence, ablation of the films occurs. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Femtosecond laser-induced crystallization in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films

Crystallization in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films by irradiation with femtosecond laser was investigated. The reflectivity and X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed that the crystalline state has been achieved in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films under the irradiation of fermosecond laser with an average power of 65 mW at a frequency of 1000 Hz and a pulsed width of 120 fs. The surface morphology before and after femtosecond laser irradiation was studied by scanning electron microscope; results showed that the surface of films with irradiation of femtosecond laser was composed of some the crystallized micro-region. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Numerical and experimental analysis on green laser crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser fluence on the crystallization of amorphous silicon irradiated by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is studied both theoretically and experimentally. An effective numerical model is set up to predict the melting threshold and the optimized laser fluence for the crystallization of 200-nm-thick amorphous silicon. The variation of the temperature distribution with time and the melt depth is analyzed. Besides the model, the Raman spectra of thin films treated with different fluences are measured to confirm the phase transition and to determine the optimized fluence. The calculating results accord well with those obtained from the experimental data in this research. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stability against crystallization and spectroscopic properties of Tm3+ doped fluorophosphate glasses

Fluorophosphate glasses with various content of Al(PO3)(3) were prepared. With the increment of Al(PO3)(3) content, density decreases while refractive index increases, and transition temperature, crystallization peak temperature and melt temperature increase which were suggested by differential scanning calorimetry. These glasses exhibit the best stability against crystallization with 7-9 mol'Yo Al(PO3)(3) content. Normalized Raman spectra were used to analyze structure and phonon state. The increment of Al(PO3)(3) content does not affect phonon energy but results in the augment of phonon density. Absorption spectra were measured. H-3(6) -> F-3(4) transition exhibits absorption at L band of the third communication window. Compared with the energy of Tm3+ excited states in other glass system, F-3(4) energy of Tm3+ in these glasses is considerable higher and H-3(4) energy is considerable lower, and it can be predicted that emission band of H-3(4) -> F-3(4) transition is close to the amplified band of gain-shift Tm3+ doped fiber amplifier. Analyses of Judd-Ofelt theory suggest when Al(PO3)(3) content is no more than 7 mol%, Judd-Ofelt parameters Omega(t) and the lifetime of H-3(4) energy level of TM3+ vary little with the increment of Al(PO3)(3) content, and when Al(PO3)(3) content is more than 7 mol%, Omega(2) and Omega(6) increase and radiative lifetime of H-3(4) energy level of Tm3+ drops sharply with the increment of Al(PO3)(3) content. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Devitrification of TeO2-doped fluoroaluminate glass

Crystallization behavior of the glass system AlF3-MgF2-CaF2-SrF2-BaF2-YF3-TeO2 (AMCSBY-TeO2) Was studied by the nonisothermal method using differential thermal analysis. The activation energy E and Avrami exponent n were determined by nonisothermal method. It is found that the value of E varies with increasing TeO2 and reaches a minimum at 10 mol fraction TeO2, while n decreases from 3.65 to 1.78 with the addition of TeO2. X-ray diffraction shows that Ba2Te3O8, MgTe2O5, and SrTeO3 phase formed when the glasses were reheated. The addition of TeO2 changes the crystallization mechanism and improves the stability of the fluoroaluminate glass.

Effects of chloride substitution on the chemical and physical properties and the crystallization behavior in heavy metal fluoride glasses

Effect of the substitutions of chloride for fluoride on the chemical and physical properties and the crystallization behavior in heavy metal fluoride glasses has been investigated. The characteristic temperature of the glass does not changed obviously when the fluoride was taken place by chloride. Compared with samples of being free of ErF3, the doping samples are more inclined to be surface crystallization. Optical basicity in the glass system increases with increasing the negative charge provided by the chloride atoms and the absorption peak red shifted is observed in absorption spectra. XRD measurements show that not a single crystalline phase appears in the heated glass samples, which indicate the substitutions of chloride for fluoride with a variety of crystalline precipitation trends. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Crystallization of amorphous Si films by pulsed laser annealing and their structural characteristics

Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) films were prepared by pulsed laser annealed crystallization of amorphous silicon (alpha-Si) films on SiO2-coated quartz or glass substrates. The effect of laser energy density on structural characteristics of nc-Si films was investigated. The Ni-induced crystallization of the a-Si films was also discussed. The surface morphology and microstructure of these films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The results show that not only can the alpha-Si films be crystallized by the laser annealing technique, but also the size of Si nanocrystallites can be controlled by varying the laser energy density. Their average size is about 4-6 nm. We present a surface tension and interface strain model used for describing the laser annealed crystallization of the alpha-Si films. The doping of Ni atoms may effectively reduce the threshold value of laser energy density to crystallize the alpha-Si films, and the flocculent-like Si nanostructures could be formed by Ni-induced crystallization of the alpha-Si films.

Solid-phase crystallization and dopant activation of amorphous silicon films by pulsed rapid thermal annealing

An improved pulsed rapid thermal annealing method has been used to crystallize amorphous silicon films prepared by PECVD. The solid-phase crystallization and dopant activation process can be completed with time-temperature budgets such as 10 cycles of 60-s 550 degrees C thermal bias/l-s 850 degrees C thermal pulse. A mean grain size more than 1000 Angstrom and a Hall mobility of 24.9 cm(2)/V s are obtained in the crystallized films. The results indicate that this annealing method possesses the potential for fabricating large-area and good-quality polycrystalline silicon films on low-cost glass substrate. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.