Abstract We report the formation of silicide by annealing of a SiOx surface, with low coverage of Eu doped Gd2O3 nanoparticles. The annealing temperature required for removal of native oxide from the Si substrate decreases with close to 200°C in presence of the nanoparticles. X-ray photoemission electron microscopy, low-energy electron microscopy and mirror electron microscopy are used to monitor the silicide formation and SiOx removal. Fragmentation of the nanoparticles is observed, and the SiOx layer is gradually removed. Eu migrates to clean Si areas during the annealing process, while Gd is found in areas where oxide is still present. This annealing process is clearly facilitated in the presence of rare-earth based nanoparticles, where nanoparticles are suggested to function as reaction sites to catalyze the oxygen removal and simultaneously form Eu based silicide. Reduction of the annealing temperature of SiOx substrates is also observed in presence of pure Eu3+ and Gd3+ ions. Simultaneous oxygen removal and EuSi formation enable this new rare-earth catalyzed annealing and silicide formation to find applications both within optoelectronics and processing microelectronic industry.

中文翻译：

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稀土逐步催化 SiOx 退火并通过低覆盖率的 Eu 掺杂 Gd2O3 纳米粒子同时形成铕-硅化物。

摘要 我们报告了通过对 SiOx 表面进行退火形成硅化物，Eu 掺杂的 Gd2O3 纳米颗粒的覆盖率较低。在纳米颗粒存在的情况下，从 Si 衬底去除天然氧化物所需的退火温度随着接近 200°C 降低。X 射线光电子显微镜、低能电子显微镜和镜面电子显微镜用于监测硅化物的形成和 SiOx 的去除。观察到纳米颗粒的碎裂，并逐渐去除 SiOx 层。在退火过程中，Eu 迁移到干净的 Si 区域，而 Gd 则存在于仍然存在氧化物的区域。在稀土基纳米粒子的存在下，这种退火过程显然有利于，其中建议纳米粒子作为反应位点以催化除氧并同时形成基于 Eu 的硅化物。在纯 Eu3+ 和 Gd3+ 离子的存在下也观察到 SiOx 衬底的退火温度降低。同时去除氧和形成 EuSi 使这种新的稀土催化退火和硅化物形成能够在光电子和加工微电子工业中找到应用。