Silicidation of Ni(Yb) film on Si(001)

The influence of the addition of Yb to Ni on the silicidation of Ni was investigated. The Ni(Yb) film was deposited on a Si(001) substrate by co-sputtering, and silicidation was performed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). After silicidation, the sheet resistance of the silicide film was measured by the four-point probe method. X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy were employed to identify the silicide phases, and the redistribution of Yb after RTA was characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy. The influence of the Yb addition on the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of the silicide/Si diode was examined by current-voltage measurements. The experimental results reveal that the addition of Yb can suppress the formation of the high-resistivity Ni ₂Si phase, but the formation of low-resistivity NiSi phase is not affected. Furthermore, after silicidation, most of the Yb atoms accumulate in the surface layer and only a small number of Yb atoms pile up at the silicide/Si(001) interface. It is believed that the accumulation of a small amount of Yb at the silicide/Si(001) interface results in the SBH reduction observed in the Ni(Yb)Si/Si diode. © 2007 TMS.