Low-Temperature Formation of Epitaxial NiSi2 Layers with Solid-Phase Reaction in Ni/Ti/Si(001) Systems

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Abstract
The solid-phase epitaxial growth of NiSi2 in Ni/Ti/Si systems has been investigated. Continuous epitaxial NiSi2 layers consisting of pyramidal domains with {111} facets at the Ni-silicide/Si interface can be formed by annealing at a temperature (350°C) lower than that for conventional Ni/Si systems. This NiSi2 layer is transformed to a uniform epitaxial NiSi2 layer with an atomically flat silicide/Si interface by additional annealing at 850°C, while the {111} facets at the NiSi2/Si interface remains in the Ni/Si system under the same annealing conditions. Moreover, the epitaxial NiSi2 layer formed at 350°C exhibits a high thermal robustness even after annealing at higher than 750°C, in contrast to the polycrystalline NiSi layer.