Abstract
The formation of epitaxial CoSi 2 on silicon by both conventional and two-step annealing of cobalt thin films on silicon was studied by transmission electron microscopy. For two-step annealing, samples were first annealed at 350 °C for 1 h, followed by high temperature annealing at 650-950 °C for 1 h. The scheme was found to be very effective in promoting the epitaxial growth of CoSi 2 on silicon as well as eliminating faceted structures on Si(111). The results are discussed in terms of the driving away of impurities from the interfaces. © 1983.