Formation and Characterization of Spe Grown Ultra-Thin Cobalt Disilicide Film

Abstract

Ultra-thin epitaxial CoSi₂ films formed by Co(3∼5nm)/Ti(1 nm)/Si(100) and Co(3∼5nm)/Si(lnm)/Ti(Inm)/Si are studied. The multilayers are deposited by ion-beam sputtering. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) is used for silicidation. XRD, RBS, TEM, AFM, four-point probe, I-V and C-V measurements are carried out for characterization. The XRD spectra show the CoSi₂ film formed by Co/Ti/Si or Co/Si/Ti/Si solid phase epitaxy has, epitaxial characteristic. XTEM shows that the film is continuous. RBS/Channeling shows that the formed CoSi₂ has sharp interface with a minimum channeling yield of Co signal of 40%. AFM shows that the surface of ultra-thin CoSi₂ film is smooth with a roughness of nearly 0.7 nm. The Rs∼T relationship shows that the CoSi₂ films formed by Co/Si/Ti/Si reaction have the best thermal stability (stable up to 900°C). Those formed by Co/Ti/Si reaction are stable up to 850°C, while those formed by Co/Si reaction are only stable up to 750°C. By fitting the experimental I-V and C-V curves of the epitaxial CoSi₂/Si Schottky diodes, barrier heights of around 0.6 eV and close to unity ideality factors are obtained.