Investigation of plasma-induced damage of nickel mono-silicide in semiconductor manufacturing

In this paper, we studied the plasma-induced damage of a nickel mono-silicide (NiSi) using XPS, TEM, AES and SIMS. According to the previous experience, it suggests that NiSi is easily oxidized when O/sub 2/ exists in plasma, which results in a high sheet resistance of oxide/silicide (NiSiO/sub x/) mixture. A substrate-dependent oxidation of NiSi formed on the different dose-implanted silicon or poly-silicon substrate was also investigated in this study.