Low temperature formation of C54-TiSi2 using titanium alloys

We demonstrate that the temperature at which the C49 TiSi2 phase transforms to the C54 TiSi2 phase can be lowered more than 100 degrees C by alloying Ti with small amounts of Mo, Ta, or Nb. Titanium alloy blanket films, containing from 1 to 20 at. % Mo, Ta, or Nb were deposited onto undoped polycrystalline Si substrates. The temperature at which the C49-C54 transformation occurs during annealing at constant ramp rate was determined by in situ sheet resistance and x-ray diffraction measurements. Tantalum and niobium additions reduce the transformation temperature without causing a large increase in resistivity of the resulting C54 TiSi2 phase, while Mo additions lead to a large increase in resistivity. Titanium tantalum alloys were also used to form C54 TiSi2 on isolated regions of arsenic doped Si(100) and polycrystalline Si having linewidths ranging from 0.13 to 0.56 mu m. The C54 phase transformation temperature was lowered by over 100 degrees C for both the blanket and fine line samples. As the concentration of Mo, Ta, or Nb in the Ti alloys increase, or as the linewidth decreases, an additional diffraction peak appears in in situ x-ray diffraction which is consistent with increasing amounts of the higher resistivity C40 silicide phase. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951 (97)02550-3].