Effect of TiOx on the formation of titanium silicide layer

Abstract

The Al/TiOx/Si, Ti/TiOx/Si, and Mo/TiOx/Si interfaces are studied, before and after thermal treatment, by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy. The metal layer is selected with regard to the formation of a titanium silicide layer. The reductive nature of the metal was found to be very significant in the interdiffusion of Si and Ti (from titanium oxide). This interdiffusion has the advantage to form a thin titanium silicide layer, which is known to have low contact resistivity. The SIMS, RBS, XPS, and XRD analyses show that after annealing for 10 min at 850 °C under hydrogen ambient, titanium silicide interfacial layers such as Ti5Si3 and TiSi2 C54 were formed in the case of Al/TiOx/Si and Ti/TiOx/Si structures, respectively. There is no significant reaction between Mo and TiOx and no Ti and Si interfacial reaction in the Mo/TiOx/Si system. With thermodynamic considerations, we confirm all the results found in this study.