Highly Thermal Immune Nitrogen-Doped Ni–Germanosilicide with Co/TiN Double Layer for Nano-Scale Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Applications

Abstract

In this study, a highly thermal immune Ni–germanosilicide utilizing a 1%-nitrogen-doped nickel and a Co/TiN double capping layer is proposed for nano-scale complementary metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (CMOSFETs). It is shown that thermal stability of Ni–germanosilicide is improved a lot by the nitrogen incorporation in Ni–germanosilicide film using the 1%-nitrogen-doped nickel target and Co/TiN double capping layer. Even after the post-silicidation annealing at 600 °C for 30 min, low resistivity Ni–germanosilicide can be achieved. It is believed that the nitrogen atoms in 1%-nitrogen-doped nickel are incorporated in the Ni–germanosilicide during silicidation and formed a nitride compound at the grain boundaries of Ni–germanosilicide and the Ni–germanosilicide/SiGe interface.