Abstract
Texture of NiGe on Ge(001) and its evolution with formation temperature have been investigated. Pole figure investigation showed that NiGe formed by rapid thermal annealing of
Ni
(
35
nm
)
∕
Ge
(
001
)
largely consists of epitaxial grains with orientation relationships:
NiGe
(
111
)
[
0
1
¯
1
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
,
NiGe
(
020
)
[
001
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
100
]
,
NiGe
(
201
)
[
10
2
¯
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
,
NiGe
(
211
)
[
01
1
¯
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
,
NiGe
(
112
)
[
20
1
¯
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
, and
NiGe
(
210
)
[
001
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
100
]
. For NiGe formed at 400°C,
NiGe
(
111
)
[
0
1
¯
1
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
,
NiGe
(
020
)
[
001
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
100
]
,
NiGe
(
201
)
[
10
2
¯
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
, and
NiGe
(
211
)
[
01
1
¯
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
were found to be the preferred orientations, while NiGe formed at 600°C was dominated by NiGe grains with
NiGe
(
111
)
[
0
1
¯
1
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
orientation. The increasing dominance of the grains with
NiGe
(
111
)
[
0
1
¯
1
]
∕
∕
Ge
(
001
)
[
110
]
orientation is attributed to the minimum lattice mismatch with this orientation.