Gold-induced crystallization of thin films of amorphous silicon suboxide

Gold-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon suboxide ($\alpha$-SiOx) has been used for the first time to obtain polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si). It is established that the annealing of a substrate/thin gold film/thin $\alpha$-SiO$_{0.2}$ film structure at 335$^\circ$C leads to the formation of poly-Si in the lower layer (on the substrate), while gold diffuses to the upper layer. As the annealing temperature is increased to 370$^\circ$C, the mechanism of poly-Si formation remains the same, but the rate of crystallization increases. Evidently, poly-Si formation proceeds via synthesis of gold silicides followed by their nearly complete decomposition to crystalline gold and silicon phases during 10-h annealing at 370$^\circ$C.