RF heating of the conductor film on silicon substrate for thin film formation

Abstract

A new method of rapid thermal process (RTP) is proposed which is based on an induction heating (IH) of a thin conducting film placed on a silicon substrate in a radio-frequency magnetic field perpendicular to the film surface. The characteristic property of the method is that no additional susceptor is required in contrast to the traditional IH methods, despite the fact that thickness of the conductor film/Si substrate structure is less than a skin-layer depth. Silicides, nitrides, borides, or conventional metallic films, etc. possessing a low electrical resistivity can be treated by the novel method. A theoretical model based on a numerical solution of quasi-stationary Maxwell's equations coupled with the non-stationary thermal equation taking into account the dependence of the resistivity and the thermal capacity on temperature was developed. Theoretical calculations have shown the feasibility of the fabrication of conductor film/silicon substrate structures. Preliminary experimental results confirming the theoretical calculations for TiSi 2 film production are presented.