Diffusion of Au in Amorphous Si Measured by the Artificial Multilayer Technique

The diffusivity of Au in amorphous Si (a-Si) has been determined in the temperature range 200-260°C using and Ar-ion sputter deposited artificial multilayered films of a-Si and a-Si(0.7at%Au) with repeat lengths between 44 and 48 A. Diffusion on lengths scales of the order of interatomic spacings have been investigated. The Au diffusivity exhibits an Arrhenius temperature dependence with an activation enthalpy of 1.2eV and shows good agreement with extrapolations of higher temperature Au diffusion data obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in ion-implanted, CVD, and sputter deposited a-Si. The measured Au diffusivity also shows a significant time dependence.