Interdiffusion and structural changes, which occurred upon annealing sputter-deposited Mo/Si and Mo(N)/Si(N) multilayer thin films, were investigated at temperatures ranging from 674 to 1027K. The use of X-ray diffractometry showed that, in the as-deposited Mo/Si multi-layers, the Mo was body-centered cubic; with the (110) planes parallel to the substrate. The Si was amorphous. In the case of as-deposited Mo(N)/Si(N) multi-layers, both the Mo and Si nitrides were amorphous. The interdiffusivities were deduced from the decay rate of satellite peak intensifies around (000). The activation energies for the interdiffusion in Mo/Si and Mo(N)/Si(N) multi-layers were 105 and 351kJ/mol, respectively. A sharp decrease in the satellite peak intensity upon annealing was observed in Mo/Si multi-layer films. This was attributed to interdiffusion and structural relaxation. On the other hand, a marked increase in the satellite intensity was found for the nitride multi-layer films. This was explained by crystallization into -Mo2N and -Si3N4. The modulation wavelength decreased by 8 to 12% after annealing. A decrease in the thickness of annealed Mo/Si multilayer films was revealed by depth profiling.

Interdiffusion and Structural Relaxation in Mo/Si Multilayer Films. H.Nakajima, H.Fujimori, M.Koiwa: Journal of Applied Physics, 1988, 63[4], 1046-51