Refractory silicides for integrated circuits

TLDR

Transition metal silicides are valued in integrated circuits for their low resistivity and ease of formation on polysilicon, but as silicon device densities rise, their sheet resistance and stability during processing become critical concerns. The paper reviews silicide properties and fabrication methods, correlating resistivity, stress, and oxidizability with electronic and crystallographic structure to identify the most promising materials for high‑density silicon integrated circuits.

Abstract

Transition metal silicides have, in the past, attracted attention because of their usefulness as high temperature materials and in integrated circuits as Schottky barrier and ohmic contacts. More recently, with the increasing silicon integrated circuits (SIC) packing density, the line widths get narrower and the sheet resistance contribution to the RC delay increases. The possibility of using low resistivity silicides, which can be formed directly on the polysilicon, makes these silicides highly attractive. The usefulness of a silicide metallization scheme for integrated circuits depends, not only on the desired low resistivity, but also on the ease with which the silicide can be formed and patterned and on the stability of the silicides throughout device processing and during actual device usage. In this paper, various properties and the formation techniques of the silicides have been reviewed. Correlations between the various properties and the metal or silicide electronic or crystallographic structure have been made to predict the more useful silicides for SIC applications. Special reference to the silicide resistivity, stress, and oxidizability during the formation and subsequent processing has been given. Various formation and etching techniques are discussed.