Reaction-Diffusion Driven Patterns in Immiscible Alloy Thin Films

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to control microstructure in Ag-Cu alloy thin films via localized reactions during annealing, supported by a kinetic model and experimental validation.

Contribution

It presents a semi-analytical model and experimental approach for microstructural control in alloy thin films through interfacial reactions.

Findings

The halo microstructure can be tuned by annealing temperature and time.

Experimental data align with the model's power law growth regime.

Grain boundary diffusion is identified as the dominant transport mechanism.

Abstract

Controlling the microstructure of thin films is of critical importance for various applications. We demonstrate a methodology for tuning the local microstructure through film-substrate interactions using Ag-Cu as a model system. Metastable single-phase Ag-Cu thin films are deposited on Si substrates pre-patterned by FIB milling. During post-deposition annealing, localized film-substrate reaction around the milled patterns produces a distinct microstructure termed as the 'halo'. It consists of copper silicide and almost pure Ag, while the far-field film forms a random mixture of Cu and Ag-rich domains through phase separation. We show that the extent of the halo can be controlled by varying the temperature and duration of annealing. We present a semi-analytical kinetic model of product and halo growth that incorporates species balance, diffusional transport and a modified Stefan condition. Predictions from the model reveal two distinct growth regimes of the product with power law indices of 1/2 and 2/7 and experimental data fall into the latter regime. These regimes originate from the dimensionality of growth (2d or 3d) compared to that of solute transport (2d), which in turn depend on film thickness and species diffusivity. Using an inverse optimization procedure, we also estimate the diffusivity, which suggests grain boundary diffusion to be the dominant transport mechanism. This study provides an avenue and framework for microstructural engineering of alloy thin films through interfacial reaction.