title: Defect-free erbium silicide formation using an ultrathin Ni interlayer.
abstract: An ultrathin Ni interlayer (∼1 nm) was introduced between a TaN-capped Er film and a Si substrate to prevent the formation of surface defects during thermal Er silicidation. A nickel silicide interfacial layer formed at low temperatures and incurred uniform nucleation and the growth of a subsequently formed erbium silicide film, effectively inhibiting the generation of recessed-type surface defects and improving the surface roughness. As a side effect, the complete transformation of Er to erbium silicide was somewhat delayed, and the electrical contact property at low annealing temperatures was dominated by the nickel silicide phase with a high Schottky barrier height. After high-temperature annealing, the early-formed interfacial layer interacted with the growing erbium silicide, presumably forming an erbium silicide-rich Er-Si-Ni mixture. As a result, the electrical contact property reverted to that of the low-resistive erbium silicide/Si contact case, which warrants a promising source/drain contact application for future high-performance metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors.
authors.affiliation: School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University , Suwon 440-746, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Juyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seongheum
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Yu-Seon
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Sekwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Hoo-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mann-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hyoungsub
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim