Dependence of Al-Si/Si contact resistance on substrate surface orientation

The dependence of Si growth on substrate orientation in the aluminium-silicon system is investigated. The Si epitaxial growth is found to show a strong dependence on the substrate surface orientation similar to the growth from Si-implanted amorphous Si. The Si growth at contact cuts changes in its quantity with substrate orientation, and Si SPE (solid-phase epitaxy) does not occur seriously on <111>-oriented substrates under the temperature in the experiment. As a result, the contact resistance of <100>-oriented samples increases rapidly with sintering time and its dispersion also increases, while those of <111>-oriented samples stay constant. The <111>-oriented surface is the most prominent for the contact-resistance stability.<>