| The thesis consists of two main topics; (a) "Ion Mixing" or the study of the spatial redistribution of atoms under the non-equilibrium kinetics and thermodynamics conditions caused by ion irradiations and (b) oxidation phenomena of metal silicides and Au aluminides.; In the study of ion mixing, I have studied the three main mechanisms that contribute to the atomic displacements in solid; (a) collisional displacements, (b) thermal spike, and (c) radiation-enhanced diffusion. I have investigated the material properties and parameters pertinent to ion mixing, such as; kinematic factors, cohesive energy of the target, damage energy density in the material, thermal diffusivity, point defects' properties, heat of mixing, and the rate of defect creation in the material by irradiation. From the investigation, I have attained a good understanding of the effects and mechanisms of ion mixing, thus enabling us to have a better control of the ion mixing technique for altering the material's properties.; The second part of the thesis deals with the oxidation phenomena of Co and Ni silicides on SiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} substrates. The motivation of this work is based on understanding how to produce an elemental metal film encapsuled by a protective insulating SiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} layer for low resistivity metallization of IC chips. Oxidation of Au aluminides was also investigated. Gold bonds on Al metallization for thin film devices are under constant physical and chemical changes due to joule heating, electromigration and outgassing of packaging materials, such as water and oxygen. Thus, I investigated the effects of water and oxygen on Au aluminides films on SiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} substrates. |
