Reactively sputtered RuO2 diffusion barriers

Abstract

The thermal stability of reactively sputtered RuO2 films is investigated from the point of view of their application as diffusion barriers in silicon contact metallizations with an Al overlayer. Backscattering spectra of Si/RuO2/Al samples and electrical measurements on shallow junction diodes with 〈Si〉/TiSi2.3/RuO2/Al contacts both show that RuO2 films are effective diffusion barriers between Al and Si for 30-min annealing at temperatures as high as 600 °C.