In:
ECS Transactions, The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 11, No. 2 ( 2007-09-28), p. 327-334
Abstract:
Ni(alloy) silicides have recently gained much attention due to their improved properties. Ni(Pt)Si has indeed become one of most promising candidates to replace NiSi as contact electrodes. To avoid bridging at the spacers and the isolation areas, after self-aligned silicidation (salicidation), un-reacted NiPt needs to be removed. This post salicidation clean process has to be selective towards all possibly exposed materials such as Si3N4 (spacers), SiO2 (field oxide), NiPtSi (contact and gate electrodes), and NiPtSiGe (contact electrodes of source/drain for strain applications). In this work, it is found that dilute HCl/HNO3 mixtures can well be used for NiPt post salicidation clean. It is shown that this process has a high etch rate for NiPt and a high selectivity towards other possibly exposed materials. Furthermore, the sheet resistance and the thickness of the silicides after this selective etch are well within specification providing a clean, environmentally-friendly process with low cost-of-ownership.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1938-5862
,
1938-6737
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Publication Date:
2007