Direct Synthesis Of Biaxially Textured Nickel Disilicide Thin Films By Magnetron Sputter Deposition On Low-Cost Metal Tapes For Flexible Silicon Devices

Nickel silicides are widely used as contact materials for electronic devices based on silicon (Si). However, they have been predominantly fabricated by annealing separate Ni and Si phases which leads to phase and structural complexity. In this letter, direct epitaxial growth of a single-phase nickel disilicide (NiSi2) thin film by sputter deposition of NiSi2 is achieved on low-cost and flexible Hastelloy tapes which offers a promising route to fabricate low-cost, flexible electronic devices. Biaxially textured titanium nitride (TiN) is applied as the seeding layer and the diffusion barrier under NiSi2. An epitaxial relationship of (001)< 100 > NiSi2 parallel to (001)< 110 > TiN is observed with an extra-large lattice mismatch (similar to 10.3%) between NiSi2 and TiN. Both the bonding similarity and the passivation effect by hydrogen promote the epitaxial growth of NiSi2 on TiN. The flat and smooth NiSi2 thin film consists of grains with a size of 50-100 nm. An epitaxially grown Si film on NiSi2 further demonstrates the potential of manufacturing high-performance Si flexible electronics with NiSi2/TiN/Hastelloy as the direct contact through this approach. Published under license by AIP Publishing.