The influences of stress on the growth of Ti and Ni silicide thin films on [001]Si

Abstract

The influences of stress on the growth of Ti and Ni silicides thin films on [001]Si have been investigated. Compressive stress present in the silicon substrate was found to retard significantly the growth of Ti and Ni silicide thin films. On the other hand, the tensile stress present in the silicon substrate was found to promote the formation of Ti and Ni silicides. For Ti and Ni on stressed [001]Si substrates after rapid thermal annealing (RTA), the thicknesses of TiSi/sub 2/ and TiSi/sub 2/ films were found to decrease and increase with the compressive and tensile stress level, respectively. The results indicated that the compressive stress hinders the migration of Si through the metal/Si interface, so that the growth of silicide is retarded. In contrast, the tensile stress promotes the Si diffusion to facilitate the formation of silicide thin films.