Abstract
The kinetics of the growth of epitaxial TiSi 2 on (111)Si and accompanying microstructural changes have been investigated by examining the same region of a thin foil repeatedly in a transmission electron microscope with intermittent annealings in a diffusion furnace. The evolution of the different modes of C54-TiSi 2 epitaxy was monitored. The dominance of the epitaxy with [101]TiSi 2 //[111]Si and (3̄13)TiSi 2 //(22̄0)Si (with about 1°deviation) was found to be due to a faster initial growth rate resulting in a much larger final size than that of the epitaxy with [100]TiSi 2 //[111]Si and (004)TiSi 2 //(022̄)Si. The difference in interface energy is conceived to be the dominant factor in affecting the epitaxial growth.