Reactively Sputtered W‐N Films as Diffusion Barriers in GaAs Metallizations

Abstract

The stability of reactively sputtered tungsten‐nitrogen alloy thin films is investigated for application as diffusion barriers between normalGaAs and Au, Ag, or Al metal layers. The composition of W‐N barriers is varied over a wide range, including pure W. We find that W‐N layers prevent the interdiffusion and reaction between Au or Ag metal overlayers and normalGaAs up to at least 550° and 600°C heat‐treatments, respectively, for 30 min annealing in forming gas. Metallurgical interactions in the normalGaAs/M and normalGaAs/W‐N/Mfalse(M=normalAu,normalAg,normalAlfalse) systems have been studied by backscattering spectrometry, sheet resistance measurements, SEM, and EDAX analysis.

Reaction of Metal, Carbide, and Nitride of Tungsten with Hydrogen Peroxide Characterized by 183W Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Raman Spectroscopy

“…These interstitial compounds have high thermal and chemical stability and electrical conductivity. Hence, the compounds have been used as hard metallurgical coatings, catalysts, and especially recently, diffusion barriers in semiconductor technology. , The preparation methods of thin films or ultrafine particles, by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and ion implanting, and surface states of the materials were also studied.…”

Barrier Characteristics of Chemical Vapor Deposited Amorphous‐like Tungsten Silicide with In Situ Nitrogen Plasma Treatment

“…In this paper we compared the effectiveness of amorphous-like tungsten silicide (a-WSi x ) and columnar tungsten (c-W) in blocking Al and Si interaction. Further, because a nitride component adds more chemical stability than the refractory metal alone, [8][9][10] we also compared the effectiveness of this process with a-WSi x and c-W in blocking Al and Si interaction. The nitridation process uses primarily either N 2 or NH 3 ambient.…”