Nickel monosilicide (NiSi) is used for lowering the parasitic resistances in source/drain. However, NiSi has a disadvantage of lower thermal instability such as NiSi2 nucleation and agglomeration. We first reported Pt segregation was found at a NiSi/Si interface by Atom Probe (AP) analysis.[6] In this study, we found that the scheme of Ni silicide grain growth and the resultant NiSi crystal shape is strongly affected by the existence of Pt by utilizing AP analysis, TEM and FE-SEM. AP observations were carried on a Ni-Pt as sputterd sample and on a Ni-Pt as annealed sample. The depth profile for the sample after silicidation indicates Pt atoms are segregated at a NiSi surface and NiSi/Si interface. For the analysis of the Pt distribution in the sample after silicidation in more details, we thoroughly analyzed the 3D image as follows: a cylindrical part is extracted from the 3D image; it is divided into 5nm thick slices; and 2D images depicting density-distribution of Pt and As. From these 2D images, we found Pt atoms exist around NiSi grains. The Atom Probe result indicates that Pt atoms segregate at the NiSi surface, grain boundaries and NiSi/Si interface. Plane view TEM and FE-SEM observations were carried out on Ni(Pt) silicide and on Ni silicide without Pt to find the influence of the segregated Pt atoms on the microstructure of NiSi. The spindle shape of NiSi(w/o Pt) grains were observed on the former. On the other hand, we observed on the latter that the Pt addition affected the shape of the NiSi grains and changed NiSi grains to round polygonal shape and the average grain size became smaller. It can be said that the Pt addition suppresses a crystal growth along in a longitudinal direction of a grain. We speculate that fine round shape NiSi grains are formed as a result of the suppression of the anisotropic crystal growth by Pt segregation, and provide the improvement of the thermal stability of the NiSi film.
Cryo-implantation technology is proposed for reducing crystal defects in Si substrates. The substrate temperature was controlled to be below at -160°C during ion implantation. No dislocation was observed in the implanted layer after rapid thermal annealing. Pn junction leakage was successfully reduced by one order of magnitude as compared with room temperature implantation. Precise dose control is indispensable in channel region of high performance MOSFETs. In order to improve the precision of implanted dose, chip size implantation technology without photoresist mask was developed. In this technology, chip-by-chip implantation can be carried out by step-and-repeat wafer stage, and different implantation conditions are available in the same wafer independent of wafer size.
In order to identify their controlling factors, the depth resolution parameters for secondary ion mass spectrometry, which include the decay length and the standard deviation of the Gaussian function (also referred to as the depth resolution function), for silicon atoms in a silicon matrix with silicon-isotope multiple layers were investigated under oxygen (O þ 2 ) and cesium (Cs þ ) ion bombardments with a wide ion energy range (from 200 eV to 10 keV) and with several incident angles. The use of silicon-isotope multiple layers in this investigation eliminated the chemical segregation effect caused by the sample composition. Measures were also taken to prevent ripple formation on the sputtered sample surface. The obtained depth resolution parameters were proportional to E 1/2 cos h, where E is the primary ion energy per atom and h is the incident angle relative to the surface normal. The relationships for decay length and standard deviation were different for the Cs þ ion, the O þ 2 ion with full oxidization, and the O þ 2 ion without full oxidization. The damage depth was measured by high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and it was found that the relationships of the standard deviation versus damage depth depend only on the damage depth with a small dependence on the ion species (O þ 2 =Cs þ ). The degree of mixing near the sputtered surface of thin silicon-isotope multiple layers bombarded by O þ 2 =Cs þ ions was measured using laser-assisted atom probe analysis, and the relationship of the degree of mixing with the depth resolution parameters indicated that the decay length was degraded according to the degree of mixing. Atomic mixing/sputtering simulations revealed the factors determining the depth resolution parameters for secondary ion mass spectrometry. The standard deviation is found to be mainly degraded by the damage depth, which agrees with the results obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, whereas the decay length is mainly extended by the variance of the damage density profile, which is a parameter of the Gaussian function and governs the degree of mixing near the surface.
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