The influence of silicide technique on the device performance for deep sub-micro pMOSFETs

We investigate the junction leakage current and device performance for 45nm SiGe/Si pMOSFETs using various silicide technology. It is found that with the conventional Ni silicide method, the leakage current of a SiGe/Si junction is large and attributed to band-to-band tunneling and the generation-recombination process. The two leakage contributors can be suppressed quite effectively when a Si cap layer is added in the Ni silicide method. In addition, Si-cap methods show the best current voltage characteristic for MOSFETs. The characteristic improvement could be associated with the suppression of the agglomeration of the Ni germano-silicide film. Our results show the novel Ni silicide method using a Si cap is the most promising choice for SiGe junctions in advanced technology.