Surfactant-mediated growth of TiSi 2 on Si(001)

Abstract

We report on the growth of thin titanium silicide layers on Si(001) by surfactant-mediated reactive deposition (SMRD) at temperatures in the range of 300–800 °C. The surface diffusion of Ti and Si is crucial for the morphology of the growing silicide layer and can be altered by the presence of a surfactant (here Sb). Samples prepared with and without Sb were analysed by SEM, RBS, TEM and XRD. The results show that the phase of the growing silicide is not influenced by the surfactant. For temperatures higher than 400 °C, the C49–disilicide phase was found. The SEM investigations show that the pinhole density in the TiSi 2 layer is significantly reduced by the surfactant.