Enhancement of thermal stability of NiSi films on (100)Si and (111)Si by Pt addition

The effect of a small amount of Pt (5 at. %) on the thermal stability of NiSi film on (100) and (111) Si substrates has been investigated both by in situ annealing inside an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy system and by ex situ rapid thermal annealing. The addition of platinum increases the disilicide nucleation temperature to 900 degrees C leading to a better stability of NiSi at high temperatures. In the presence of Pt, NiSi films on both (111)Si and (100)Si substrates develop a texture with the relationship (100)NiSi parallel to(111)Si and (010)NiSi parallel to(100)Si. The increase in thermal stability has been explained in terms of the nucleation concept. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(99)05338-3].