Silicides for advanced CMOS devices

The narrow line behaviour observed for Co-silicide and Ni-silicide is investigated. The thermal degradation of Ni-silicide, morphological degradation as well as phase instability, is discussed. It is demonstrated that the thermal stability of Ni-silicide can be improved by alloying with Pt or Ta. The formation of Ni-silicide contacts on SiGe substrates is investigated. The stress induced by the silicide itself is studied by finite element simulations and verified with convergent beam electron diffraction analysis. Finally, the use of Ni-silicide as a metal gate is discussed.