Structure, interface roughness, and growth mechanism of reactive deposition epitaxy of CoSi2 on Si(100) substrates

Thin CoSi2 films have been grown on Si(100) substrates using the relative deposition epitaxy method. The structure of the silicide films have been analyzed using x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and channeling, and the interface roughness of the CoSi2/Si(100) is analyzed using specular x-ray reflectivity and cross-sectional TEM. The structure and interface roughness of CoSi2/Si(100) is found to be dependent on the substrate temperature. Highly epitaxial CoSi2 with minimum interface roughness is obtained when the film is grown at substrate temperatures around 900 K. The observed interface roughness is a parabolic function of temperature. The achievement of the best silicide at a substrate temperature around 900 K is explained on the basis of the instantaneous diffusion of Co through growing CoSi2. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.