Contact resistance and stability study for Au, Ti, Hf and Ni contacts on thin-film Mg2Si

Bo Zhang, Tao Zheng, Qingxiao Wang, Yihan Zhu, Husam N. Alshareef, Moon J. Kim, Bruce E. Gnade

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a detailed study of post-deposition annealing effects on contact resistance of Au, Ti, Hf and Ni electrodes on Mg2Si thin films. Thin-film Mg2Si and metal contacts were deposited using magnetron sputtering. Various post-annealing temperatures were studied to determine the thermal stability of each contact metal. The specific contact resistivity (SCR) was determined using the Cross Bridge Kelvin Resistor (CBKR) method. Ni contacts exhibits the best thermal stability, maintaining stability up to 400 °C, with a SCR of approximately 10−2 Ω-cm2 after annealing. The increased SCR after high temperature annealing is correlated with the formation of a Mg-Si-Ni mixture identified by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) characterization, X-ray diffraction characterization (XRD) and other elemental analyses. The formation of this Mg-Si-Ni mixture is attributed to Ni diffusion and its reaction with the Mg2Si film.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1134-1139
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume699
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 28 2016

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work is partially supported by the II-VI foundation. The authors would like to thank Wallace Martin, Gordon Pollack and John Maynard from the University of Texas at Dallas cleanroom.

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