Open AccessPhase evolution of ultra-thin Ni silicide films on CF4 plasma immersion ion implanted Si
Author(s) -
Lantian Zhao,
Mingshan Liu,
Qinghua Ren,
Chenhe Liu,
Qiang Liu,
Lingli Chen,
Yohann Spiegel,
Frank Torregrosa,
Yu Wang,
Qiang Zhao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nanotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.926
H-Index - 203
eISSN - 1361-6528
pISSN - 0957-4484
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6528/ab6d21
Subject(s) - materials science , silicide , plasma immersion ion implantation , epitaxy , thin film , dopant , electrical resistivity and conductivity , layer (electronics) , analytical chemistry (journal) , ion implantation , ion , doping , optoelectronics , silicon , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , chromatography , engineering
We present a systematic study on the effects of CF 4 plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) in Si on the phase evolution of ultra-thin Ni silicides. For 3 nm Ni, NiSi 2 was formed on Si substrates with and without CF 4 PIII at temperature as low as 400 °C. For 6 nm Ni, NiSi was formed on pure Si, while epitaxial NiSi 2 was obtained on CF 4 PIII Si. The incorporation of C and F atoms in the thin epitaxial NiSi 2 significantly reduces the layer resistivity. Increasing the Ni thickness to 8 nm results in the formation of NiSi, where the thermal stability of NiSi, the NiSi/Si interface and Schottky contacts are significantly improved with CF 4 PIII. We suggest that the interface energy is lowered by the F and C dopants present in the layer and at the interface, leading to phase evolution of the thin Ni silicide.