High-temperature degradation of NiSi films: Agglomeration versus NiSi2 nucleation

The thermodynamical and morphological stability of NiSi thin films has been investigated for layers of thickness ranging from 10to60nm formed on either silicon-on-insulator (SOI), polycrystalline silicon, or preannealed polycrystalline silicon substrates. The stability of the films was evaluated using in situ x-ray-diffraction, sheet resistance, and laser light-scattering measurements. For NiSi films that are thinner than 20nm, agglomeration is the main degradation mechanism. For thicker films, the agglomeration of NiSi and nucleation of NiSi2 occur simultaneously, and both degradation mechanisms influence each other. Significant differences were observed in the degradation of the NiSi formed on different substrates. Surprisingly, agglomeration is worse on SOI substrates than on poly-Si substrates, suggesting that the texture of the NiSi film plays an important role in the agglomeration process. As expected, preannealing of the polycrystalline silicon substrate prior to metal deposition results in a significant improvement of the thermal stability of the NiSi layers.