Investigation on thermal stability of Ni(Zr)Si thin film and electrical characteristics of its Schottky barrier diode

A novel technique to add a thin Zr interlayer in the nickel film is put forward to improve the thermal stability of nickel silicide. After rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 600-800??C, Ni(Zr)Si film exhibits a low sheet resistance of less than 2 ??/&euro. XRD and Raman spectral analyses both show there exists NiSi phase but no NiSi2 phase in the Ni(Zr)Si film. The transformation temperature from low resistance phase to high resistance phase is above 800??C, which is 100??C higher than that of NiSi. The electrical characteristics of the fabricated Ni(Zr)Si/Si Schottky barrier diode with the structure of guard ring are that the barrier height and the ideal factor are about 0.63 eV and close to 1, respectively. It further proves that the presence of Zr element in Nickel silicide is effective in promoting thermal stability and electrical characteristics of Nickel monosilicide.EI061197-12022