Excimer Laser-Induced Ti Silicidation to Eliminate the Fine-Line Effect for Integrated Circuit Device Fabrication

Abstract

In this paper laser thermal processing ͑LTP͒ is applied to induce the Ti silicide formation in replacement of rapid thermal annealing ͑RTA͒ in narrow lines. Results show that the C40 TiSi 2 is synthesized after LTP in both large and small features. With this interfacial C40 TiSi 2 , the C54 TiSi 2-phase formation temperature can be lowered by 100°C during subsequent annealing. The C40-C54-phase transition is also achievable with low temperature treatment. Most importantly, the C54 TiSi 2 growth is linewidth independent down to at least 0.25 m using LTP followed by RTA. LTP provides a possible technique to extend the application of TiSi 2 to subquartermicrometer technologies.

Impact of nanosecond laser energy density on the C40-TiSi2 formation and C54-TiSi2 transformation temperature

“…The only phase formed after UV-NLA is indeed the C40-TiSi2 whatever the laser ED used. To promote the formation of the C54-TiSi2 phase, an additional RTA is needed in agreement with previous studies [34][35][36]57 .…”

“…Another major interest of the laser annealing process is to modify the phase sequence: indeed the C54-TiSi2 phase can be obtained from C40-TiSi2, by-passing the undesirable C49-TiSi2 phase [34][35][36] . The C40-TiSi2 phase, obtained for very specific conditions, can thus act as a precursor of the C54-TiSi2 at lower temperature [34][35][36] . The This is the author's peer reviewed, accepted manuscript.…”

“…investigation performed so far on leveraging UV-NLA for the formation of TiSi2 have been mainly conducted with small laser beams (diameter ~160-200 µm) with a near Gaussian shape scanning the surface with a controlled speed, resulting in a large number of pulses at the same location (typically more than 100 pulses) [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] . Such studies did not properly explore the effect of the laser energy density.…”

Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of Co using Co(MeCp)2 precursor

“…With continuous downscaling of semiconductor devices, the contact resistance is considered as one of the great parasitic components determining overall performance of device. Especially, narrow line effect of TiSi 2 contact is a wellknown problem, which could cause a serious problem [1,2]. CoSi 2 has been investigated as an alternative contact material due to low resistance [3], good thermal stability [4], and small narrow line effect.…”

Formation of silicide films in advanced silicon devices using excimer pulsed laser annealing

“…Furthermore, a C40 TiSi 2 template forms after LTP and this facilitates the transformation to C54 phase at low temperature RTA without presenting any linewidth dependent phenomenon [45].…”