Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T02:59:53.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Silicides for 65 nm CMOS and Beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jorge A. Kittl
Affiliation:
Philips Research Leuven, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Anne Lauwers
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Oxana Chamirian
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Mark Van Dal
Affiliation:
Philips Research Leuven, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Amal Akheyar
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Infineon Technologies
Olivier Richard
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Judit G. Lisoni
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Muriel De Potter
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Richard Lindsay
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Karen Maex
Affiliation:
Affiliate researcher at IMEC from Texas Instruments
Get access

Abstract

An overview of silicide development for the 65 nm node and beyond is presented. The scaling behavior of Co based and Ni based silicides to sub-100 nm junctions and sub-40 nm gate lengths was investigated. Co and Co-Ni silicides required a high thermal budget to achieve low diode leakage. Even for lower thermal budgets, the sheet resistance of Co and Co-Ni silicides increased at gate lengths below 40 nm. NiSi had low sheet resistance down to 30 nm gate lengths exhibiting a reverse linewidth effect (sheet resistance decreased with decreasing linewidth), achieved lower contact resistivity than CoSi2 and lower diode leakage for similar sheet resistance values. Bridging issues cannot be ignored for NiSi, in particular for thicker Ni films, higher RTP temperatures and in the presence of Ti. Material issues for the application of NiSi were also investigated. Ni2Si was found to grow with diffusion limited kinetics in the 225-300°C range, with an activation energy of 1.5 eV. Results of the kinetic studies were used to design a two-step RTP process that limited the silicide thickness on small features by a low thermal budget first RTP step, reducing the reverse linewidth effect and avoiding excessive silicidation. In the presence of an interfacial oxide, undesired epitaxial NiSi2 pyramidal grains grew directly at temperatures as low as 310°C on p+ Si. Thermal stability of NiSi was also investigated. We found that the initial mechanism of degradation for thin NiSi films was agglomeration, with activation energies of 2.5-3 eV. The surface after agglomeration remained quite flat with alternating NiSi and exposed Si areas, while the interface roughened significantly. Thick films also degraded initially by agglomeration at low temperatures, but by transformation to NiSi2 at higher temperatures. The addition of Pt improved thermal stability of NiSi films against agglomeration. The Ni/Si-Ge reaction was also studied, finding that the addition of Ge reduced the thermal process window and resulted in a slightly higher resistivity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Maex, K., Lauwers, A., Besser, P., Kondoh, E., Potter, M. de and Steegen, A., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 46 (1999) 1545.Google Scholar
2. Kittl, J.A., Hong, Q.Z., Chao, C.P., Chen, I.C., Yu, N., S. O'Brien and Hanratty, M., 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers (1997) 103.Google Scholar
3. Kittl, J.A., Shiau, W.T., Hong, Q.Z. and Miles, D., Microelectronic Engineering 50 (2000) 87.Google Scholar
4. Gambino, J.P. and Colgan, E.G., Materials Chemistry and Physics 52 (1998) 99.Google Scholar
5. Kittl, J.A., Shiau, W.T., Miles, D., Violette, K.E., Hu, J. and Hong, Q.Z., Solid State Technology June 1999 (1999) 81, and August 1999 (1999) 55.Google Scholar
6. Lauwers, A., M. de Potter, Chamirian, O., Lindsay, R., Demeurisse, C., Vrancken, C. and Maex, K., Microelectronic Engineering 64 (2002) 131.Google Scholar
7. Chamirian, O., Steegen, A., Bender, H., Lauwers, A., Potter, M. De, Marabelli, F. and Maex, K., Microelectronic Engineering 60 (2002) 221.Google Scholar
8. Detavernier, C., Meirhaeghe, R.L. Van, Cardon, F. and Maex, K., Phys. Rev. B 62 (2000) 12045.Google Scholar
9. Lauwers, A., Besser, P., Gut, T., Satta, A., Potter, M. de, Lindsay, R., Roelandts, N., Loosen, F., Jin, S., Bender, H., Stucchi, M., Vrancken, C., Deweerdt, B. and Maex, K., Microelectronic Engineering 50 (2000) 103.Google Scholar
10. Lauwers, A., Steegen, A., dePotter, M., Lindsay, R., Satta, A., Bender, H. and Maex, K., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 19 (2001) 2026.Google Scholar
11. Ohguro, T., Nakamura, S., Koike, M., Morimoto, T., Nishiyama, A., Ushiku, Y., Yoshitomi, T., Ono, M., Saito, M. and Iwai, H., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 41 (1994) 2305.Google Scholar
12. Iwai, H., Ohguro, T. and Ohmi, S., Microelectronic Engineering 60 (2002) 157.Google Scholar
13. Mangelinck, D., Dai, J.Y., Pan, J.S. and Lahiri, S.K., Appl. Phys. Lett. 75 (1999) 1736.Google Scholar
14. Liu, J.P., Miles, D., Zhao, J., Gurba, A., Xu, Y., Lin, C., Hewson, M., Ruan, J., Tsung, L., Kuan, R., Grider, T., Mercer, D. and Montgomery, C., 2002 IEDM Technical Digest (2002) 371.Google Scholar
15. Donatan, R. A., Maex, K., Vantome, A., Langouche, G., Morciaux, Y., Amour, A. St. and Sturm, J. C., Appl. Phys. Lett. 70 (1997) 1266.Google Scholar
16. d'Heurle, F. M., Petersson, C. S., Baglin, J. E., LaPlaca, S. J. and Wong, C. Y., J. Apply. Phys. 55 (1984) 4208.Google Scholar
17. Teodorescu, V., Nistor, L., Bender, H., Steegen, A., Lauwers, A., Maex, K. and Landuyt, J. Van, J. Appl. Phys. 90 (2001) 167.Google Scholar
18. Lawrence, M., Dass, A., Fraser, D. B. and Wei, C. S., Appl. Phys Lett. 58 (1991) 1308.Google Scholar
19. Tung, R. T., Appl. Phys. Lett. 68 (1996) 3461.Google Scholar