Effect of the crystallographic orientation of the surface of single-crystal Si wafers on the endotaxial growth of NiSi₂ nanoplates

A multi-technique analysis was used to investigate how the orientation of single-crystal Si wafer surfaces affects the size, shape and orientation of NiSi₂ nanocrystals grown within the wafers through the thermal diffusion of Ni atoms from a nickel-doped thin film deposited on the surface. Nickel-doped thin films were prepared on silicon wafers with three distinct crystallographic orientations, [001], [110] and [111]. Three sets of samples were then annealed at 500, 600 and 700°C for 2 h. Regardless of crystallographic orientation or annealing temperature, NiSi₂ nanoplates with a nearly hexagonal shape grew close to the external surface of the wafers, aligning their larger surfaces parallel to one of the planes of the Si{111} crystallographic form. The crystallographic orientation and annealing temperature in the 500–700°C range did not significantly affect the final values of the average diameter and thickness of the nanoplates. However, significant differences were noted in the number of nanoplates formed in Si wafers with different crystallographic orientations. The results indicate that these observed differences are correlated with the number of pre-existing defects in the wafers that influence the heterogeneous nucleation process. In addition, the average size and size dispersion were determined for pores at the surface of the Si wafers formed due to the etching process used for native oxide removal.