F-enhanced morphological and thermal stability of NiSi films on BF2+-implanted Si(001)

Abstract

The morphological and thermal stability of conducting NiSi films formed on Si(001) are significantly enhanced by pre-implantation of the Si wafer with BF2+. In the absence of F, the maximum silicidation temperature Tmax is 650 °C; higher temperatures lead to the formation of the competing high-resistivity NiSi2 phase. Tmax, however, is increased to ⩾750 °C during NiSi formation on Si(001) implanted with 20 keV BF2+ at a dose of 5×1015 cm−2. The observed enhancement in NiSi thermal stability is due to F segregation to the silicide/Si(001) interface and silicide grain boundaries, which retards NiSi grain growth, leading to much smoother layers, and inhibits NiSi2 nucleation.