Effect of SC-1 Cleaning to Prevent Al Diffusion for Ti Schottky Barrier Diode

Abstract

We report the effect of Standard Clean-1 (SC-1) cleaning to remove residual Ti layers after silicidation to prevent Al diffusion into Si wafer for Ti Schottky barrier diodes (Ti-SBD). Regardless of SC-1 cleaning, the presence of oxygen atoms is confirmed by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile analysis between Al and Ti-silicide layers. Al atoms at the interface of Ti-silicide and Si wafer are detected, when the SC-1 cleaning is not conducted after rapid thermal annealing. On the other hand, Al atoms are not found at the interface of Ti-SBD after executing SC-1 cleaning. Al diffusion into the interface between Ti-silicide and Si wafer may be caused by thermal stress at the Ti-silicide layer. The difference of the thermal expansion coefficients of Ti and Ti-silicide gives rise to thermal stress at the interface during the Al layer deposition and sintering processes. Although a longer sintering time is conducted for Ti-SBD, the Al atoms do not diffuse into the surface of the Si wafer. Therefore, the removal of the Ti layer by the SC-1 cleaning can prevent Al diffusion for Ti-SBD.