Premium
Transmission electron microscopy study of erbium silicide formation from Ti/Er stack for Schottky contact applications
Author(s) -
RATAJCZAK J.,
ŁASZCZ A.,
CZERWINSKI A.,
KĄTCKI J.,
PHILLIPP F.,
VAN AKEN P.A.,
RECKINGER N.,
DUBOIS E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2009.03264.x
Subject(s) - erbium , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , silicide , annealing (glass) , schottky barrier , titanium , sputtering , optoelectronics , silicon , analytical chemistry (journal) , metallurgy , nanotechnology , thin film , chemistry , doping , diode , chromatography
Summary In this paper, we present results of transmission electron microscopy studies on erbium silicide structures fabricated under various thermal conditions. A titanium cap has been used as a protective layer against oxidation during rapid thermal annealing of an erbium layer in a temperature range of 300–700°C. Both layers (200 nm Ti and 25 nm Er) were deposited by electron‐beam sputtering. The investigations have shown that the transformation of the 25‐nm‐thick erbium into erbium silicide is completed after annealing at 500°C. At higher temperatures, the formation of a titanium silicide layer above erbium silicide is observed. The lowest Schottky barrier has been measured in the sample annealed at 700°C.