Low frequency noise analysis as a diagnostic tool to assess the quality of 0.25μm Ti-silicided poly lines

In this paper, de and low frequency noise measurement results on Ti-silicided poly lines are presented and analysed. Besides Raman scattering [1], low frequency noise analysis gives additional information on the presence and the spatial distribution of the high resistive C49 phase in the silicide line. The low frequency noise is strongly dependent on whether or not the distribution of the C49 phase is uniform or spotted-like. The experimental results agree with our model for a uniform C49 phase distribution over the silicided line. A spotted-like distribution of the C49 phase, which causes non-uniform current densities, can not explain the observed noise behaviour. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.