Impact of Pt on the phase formation sequence, morphology, and electrical properties of Ni(Pt)/Ge0.9Sn0.1 system during solid-state reaction

Ni-GeSn based materials are promising in order to obtain contacts in complementary metal oxide semiconductor and Si photonic devices. In this work, a systematic and comprehensive study of the solid-state reaction between NiPt thin films and Ge0.9Sn0.1 layers is carried out. A particular focus is given on the impact of the addition of 10 at. % of Pt in Ni thin films. In situ X-ray diffraction and in-plane reciprocal space map measurements reveal a sequential growth in which the first phase appearing corresponds to a Ni-rich phase: (Ni0.9Pt0.1)5(Ge0.9Sn0.1)3. Then, at 245 °C, the Ni-rich phase vanishes to the benefit of the mono-stanogermanide phase (Ni0.9Pt0.1)(Ge0.9Sn0.1), which is unstable. At 360 °C, a more stable (Ni1– yPty)(Ge1– xSnx) phase is obtained concomitantly to the formation of PtSnx compounds. Finally, Sn segregation occurs at even higher temperatures. Even if Pt addition in Ni thin films complicates the phase formation sequence, it positively impacts the surface morphology and roughness, delays film agglomeration and Sn segregation, and stabilizes the electrical properties of the stanogermanide in a wide range of temperatures.