Optimal Nitrogen Incorporation in Nickel Silicide for Thermally Stable Contact Formation.

Nickel silicide (NiSi) is commonly used as a contact material for metal junctions but the poor thermal instability of NiSi above 600 °C has limited the further scaling down of devices and the implementation of novel schemes, such as monolithic 3-dimensional integration. This paper suggests a process to improve the thermal stability of NiSi through nitrogen incorporation during the silicidation process. The optimal level of nitrogen incorporation in NiSi reduced the nickel diffusion rate and enhanced the thermal stability by preventing the formation of a nickel disilicide phase. On the other hand, a higher level of N incorporation led to Ni3N formation, which impeded the complete transformation to NiSi. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate the optimal content of N. In this study, NiSi with 3.9% N incorporation showed superior electrical characteristics, such as the sheet resistance, junction leakage, and stable Schottky barrier height, even after high-temperature post silicidation annealing at 600 °C for 30 min.