Forced diffusion via electrically induced crystallization for fabricating ZnO–Ti–Si structures

•ZnO–Ti–Si system is very important for the structural design.•The electrically induced crystallization method is useful to diffusion process.•Intermetallic compound characteristics have been presented using electrically induced crystallization.•Interface mechanism about diffusion of TZO–TiSix–Si structure is presented.

Electrically induced crystallization (EIC) is a recently developed process for material modification. This study is applied to EIC to fabricate ZnO–Ti–Si multi-layer structures of various thicknesses to dope Ti into ZnO thin film and to form TiSix intermetallic compound (IMC) in a single step. The IMC layer was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy images. The Ti layer thickness was more than 40 nm, which enhanced electron transmission and decreased the total electrical resistance in the structure. Finally, the diffusion mechanisms of EIC and the annealing process were investigated. This study shows that the EIC process has potential for industrial applications.

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