Abstract
Bilayers of yttrium and amorphous silicon have been irradiated with 60 keV inert ions. Between liquid-nitrogen temperature and 100°C, ion mixing resulted in an amorphous alloy of Y and Si. For temperatures of 125-190°C, we observed formation of the YSi phase. YSi is not formed during thermal anneals of bilayers. Ion mixing at higher temperatures (≥205°C) results in the formation of the stable YSi1.7 phase. Such sequential silicide formation has not been observed for comparable rare-earth silicides. The minimum temperatures for ion-induced YSi1.7 formation agrees with the prediction by a simple model which correlates vacancy mobility to phase transformation. The YSi formation temperature is associated with the onset of radiation-enhanced diffusion. This temperature does not correlate well with the prediction of the model, but agrees with a scaling based on the average cohesive energy.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1848-1850 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 58 |
Issue number | 17 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1991 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)