Abstract
A number of nanosize Ti silicides, Ti5 Si3, Ti5 Si4, and TiSi, were found to form simultaneously in the amorphous intermixing layer of annealed ultrahigh-vacuum-deposited Ti thin films on (001)Si. Autocorrelation function analysis has been applied to the high-resolution transmission electron microscope images to identify the phases formed in the initial stages of reaction. The intermediate silicide phases were detected to form earlier than that of the previous study owing to the superior sensitivity in detecting nanocrystals in an amorphous layer. The phase formation can be explained from the constructed metastable free-energy diagram. c 2005 American Institute of Physics.