Influence of Ge substrate crystallinity on Co germanide formation in solid-state reactions

A strong influence of substrate crystallinity is observed for thin-film Co∕Ge reactions. For the detected phases (CoGe, Co5Ge7, and CoGe2), the formation temperatures on amorphous Ge (a-Ge) are found to be the lowest, while the highest are on single-crystalline Ge(100). Moreover, while the phase sequence on Ge(100) and polycrystalline Ge (poly-Ge) was unaltered, the formation of intermediate Co5Ge7 was not observed on a-Ge. It is likely that this is due to a promoted CoGe2 formation on a-Ge, resulting in a ∼200°C decrease in formation temperature (depending on the ramp rate). These observations suggest a strong competition among the formation of these Ge-rich phases.