Epitaxial growth of Ni(Al)Si0.7Ge0.3 on Si0.7Ge0.3/Si(100) by Al interlayer mediated epitaxy

Abstract

Epitaxial growth of Ni(Al)Si0.7Ge0.3 on relaxed Si0.7Ge0.3/Si(100) substrates was achieved via an Al interlayer mediated epitaxy. After annealing, most of the Al atoms from the original 3 nm interlayer diffused toward the surface but the remaining Al atoms in the epitaxial monogermanosilicide distributed uniformly, independent of the annealing temperatures. The incorporation of Al increases the transition temperature from the Ni-rich germanosilicide phase to the monogermanosilicide phase. The reduced Ni diffusion, the increased lattice constant due to substitutional Al, and the increased thermal expansion of monogermanosilicide are assumed to be the main mechanisms enabling the epitaxial growth of the quaternary silicide.

Impact of an ultra-thin Ti interlayer on the formation of NiSiGe/SiGe

“…The effect of substrate strain on the morphological stability of Ni-germanosilicide was also studied by several group [12,13]. In our previous work, we reported the formation of the atomically flat NiSiGe layer by Al mediated epitaxy on the relaxed SiGe substrate [14]. Different interfacial elements may have different effects on the NiSiGe formation.…”

Formation of High-Oriented Epitaxial Ni(Si0.8Ge0.2) on Strained Si0.8Ge0.2/Si(100) via Adding a Thin Ti Interlayer

“…Several ways has been proposed to improve the morphology and thermal stability of NiSiGe layers efficiently (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Furthermore, epitaxial silicide and germanosilicide have superior properties due to the excellent sharp interface, low diffusion coefficient to dopant in substrate for the lack of grain boundaries, and concomitant high thermal stability.…”

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Formation of NiSiGe on compressivly strained SiGe thin layers

“…SiGe layer pseudomorphically grown on a silicon substrate is under compressive strain which further enhances the holes' mobility in a SiGe channel. Nickel based germanides and germano-silicides provide good contact to SiGe [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Moreover, there is a tendency to shrink the thickness of the silicide with the gate length scaling down.…”