The effect of silicides on the induction and removal of defects in silicon

Abstract The effect of silicidation on the generation and removal of defects in silicon is studied in terms of dopant behaviour and shrinkage or growth of extended defects in silicon during silicide formation. A reduction in the number of interstitial-type defects is observed both for near-noble metal silicides and for refractory metal silicides, suggesting a generation of vacancies. In the case of TiSi 2 , the removal of end-of-range defects was observed from electrical measurements on p + junctions, preamorphized with germanium. Complete annihilation of these defects during CoSi 2 formation failed. This might be attributed to the lower stress level of CoSi 2 on silicon compared with TiSi 2 . The higher stress level of TiSi 2 on silicon can lead to generation of dislocations at film edges for silicide thicknesses exceeding 100 nm.