GROWTH-KINETICS OF SILICIDE LAYERS - A PHYSICOCHEMICAL VIEWPOINT

The solid state growth kinetics of silicide layers in a metal-silicon multiphase binary system have been shown from a physicochemical viewpoint to be sequential rather than simultaneous, in accordance with experimental observations in most systems. Equations describing the growth kinetics of silicide layers in various reaction couples of a metal-silicon system are presented. These permit a comparison of the growth rates of the same silicide layer in different couples to be made. In the diffusional case these equations and the Wagner ones produce identical results. The difference is that the first are applicable and the second are, in principle, inapplicable to a linear region of silicide growth. Theoretical values of the ratio of the growth rates of a silicide in couples of the type Me-Si and Me-MeSi were found to be in good agreement with the reported experimental ones for Co2Si, Pt2Si and other compounds.