The formation mechanism and kinetics of Ni3GaAs nano-thin films on GaAs
Abstract
A thorough investigation of metal–semiconductor contacts is essential for advancing the design and fabrication of scaled devices based on III-V compound semiconductors. The initial stages of growth and the kinetics of the Ni₃GaAs phase at both coherent and incoherent Ni/GaAs interfaces have primarily been studied using in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atom probe tomography (APT) analysis. In this study, we validate the hypothesis that variations in XRD integrated intensity are proportional to the thickness of the formed phase by performing direct measurements using TEM and in situ XRD. In situ XRD measurements were then carried out during isothermal annealing at different temperatures on two samples with Ni film thicknesses of 20 nm and 100 nm, in order to monitor the growth kinetics of the sole Ni 3 GaAs phase formed. The results demonstrate that only the Ni vacancy diffusion mechanism is dominant in this phase, and that there is strong agreement between the Ni 3 GaAs growth kinetics observed in nano thin films and those reported for bulk diffusion couples. By comparing these findings with nucleation and growth models, we conclude that the growth of the Ni 3 GaAs phase at the Ni/GaAs interface is predominantly diffusion-controlled at low temperatures and larger thicknesses, whereas it is mainly governed by interface reactions at higher temperatures and smaller thicknesses.
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BibTeX
@article{charai2026formation,
title = {{The formation mechanism and kinetics of Ni3GaAs nano-thin films on GaAs}},
author = {M. Charai and C. Perrin-Pellegrino and D. Mangelinck and S. Rabhi and A. Portavoce and M. Putero and K. Hoummada},
journal = {Materialia},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102689},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05786454v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The formation mechanism and kinetics of Ni3GaAs nano-thin films on GaAs
AU - M. Charai
AU - C. Perrin-Pellegrino
AU - D. Mangelinck
AU - S. Rabhi
AU - A. Portavoce
AU - M. Putero
AU - K. Hoummada
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Materialia
DO - 10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102689
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05786454v1
AB - A thorough investigation of metal–semiconductor contacts is essential for advancing the design and fabrication of scaled devices based on III-V compound semiconductors. The initial stages of growth and the kinetics of the Ni₃GaAs phase at both coherent and incoherent Ni/GaAs interfaces have primarily been studied using in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atom probe tomography (APT) analysis. In this study, we validate the hypothesis that variations in XRD integrated intensity are proportional to the thickness of the formed phase by performing direct measurements using TEM and in situ XRD. In situ XRD measurements were then carried out during isothermal annealing at different temperatures on two samples with Ni film thicknesses of 20 nm and 100 nm, in order to monitor the growth kinetics of the sole Ni 3 GaAs phase formed. The results demonstrate that only the Ni vacancy diffusion mechanism is dominant in this phase, and that there is strong agreement between the Ni 3 GaAs growth kinetics observed in nano thin films and those reported for bulk diffusion couples. By comparing these findings with nucleation and growth models, we conclude that the growth of the Ni 3 GaAs phase at the Ni/GaAs interface is predominantly diffusion-controlled at low temperatures and larger thicknesses, whereas it is mainly governed by interface reactions at higher temperatures and smaller thicknesses.
SN - 2589-1529
ER -