Insights into microstructural evolution and polycrystalline compounds formation from Pd-Ge thin films

Polycrystalline Pd-Ge thin films, prepared on freshly cleaved single crystal NaCl (1 0 0) substrate by evaporation techniques, were characterized for their composition, morphologies, and crystalline structure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental results indicated that the formation of Pd2Ge and PdGe compounds dominated at low annealing temperatures, and it also affected the crystallization of amorphous Ge. The reactions of Pd and Ge are sensitively dependent on the annealing temperatures and the thickness ratio of Pd and Ge films. The crystallization of amorphous Ge and the reactions of Pd and Ge are mutually competitive in polycrystalline Pd-Ge thin films. The grain nucleation, growth, and aggregation in Pd-Ge thin films during processing are discussed in terms of the fundamental kinetic processes.