Improvement of Nickel-Stanogermanide Contact Properties by Platinum Interlayer

We report an effective method to improve the formation of nickel stanogermanide (NiGeSn) by the incorporation of a platinum (Pt) interlayer. After the Ni/Pt/GeSn samples are annealed we obtain uniform NiGeSn thin films, which are characterized by means of sheet resistance, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, cross-section transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. These results show that the presence of Pt increases the smoothness and uniform morphology of NiGeSn films.