Growth mechanism of epitaxial NiSi/sub 2/ layer in the Ni/Ti/Si(001) contact for atomically flat interfaces

The crystalline structure and electrical properties of an epitaxial Ni silicide film formed in a Ni/Ti/Si system were investigated. The {111} facets at the Ni silicide/Si interface disappears with increasing the annealing temperature. As the result, the film morphology is improved and the sheet resistance of the film is reduced. Pseudomorphic metastable-NiSi/sub 2/ is formed after annealing at 350/spl deg/C, and that transforms to pseudomorphic NiSi/sub 2/ with the CaF/sub 2/-type structure at 650/spl deg/C. The epitaxial NiSi/sub 2/ film after annealing at 850/spl deg/C has the in-plane tensile strain on the Si substrate.