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Continuous and uniform Ni͑Si,Ge͒ layers are formed on polycrystalline Si and Si 0.42 Ge 0.58 substrate films at 500°C by rapid thermal processing. The germanosilicide is identified as NiSi 0.42 Ge 0.58 , i.e., with the same Si-to-Ge ratio as in the substrate. The NiSi 0.42 Ge 0.58 layer has agglomerated at 600°C. This is accompanied by a diffusion of Ge out from the germanosilicide grains and the growth of a Ge-rich SiGe region in their close vicinity. These changes cause a slight variation in the atomic composition of Ni͑Si,Ge͒ detectable for individual grains by means of energy dispersive spectroscopy. Above 600°C, substantial outdiffusion of Ge from the Ni͑Si,Ge͒ grains occurs concurrently with the migration of the grains into the substrate film away from the surface area leaving a Ge-rich SiGe region behind. These observations can be understood with reference to calculated Ni-Si-Ge ternary phase diagrams with and without the inclusion of NiSi 2 . When Ge is present, the Ni-based self-aligned silicide process presents a robust technique with respect to device applications.

Thermal exfoliation and crystallographic transformation of single-crystal metal oxides induced by He-ion implantation J. Appl. Phys. 94, 3045 (2003); 10.1063/1.1600525 Morphological and phase stability of nickel-germanosilicide on Si 1−x Ge x under thermal stress

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