Improvement of thermal stability and reduction of Schottky barrier height of Ni germanide utilizing Ni-Pt(1%) alloy on Ge-on-Si substrate

In this study, thermal stability of Ni germanide on Ge-onSi substrate is improved using Ni-Pt(l%) alloy target. It is believed that Pt incorporation suppressed the oxidation of NiGe and Ni and Ge diffusion. The proposed Ni-Pt/TiN is also efficient in reducing hole barrier height between Ni germanide and source/drain, i.e., decrease of contact resistance therein. The extracted Schottky barrier height shows decrease of about 20 meV. Therefore, the proposed NiPt alloy could be promising for the high mobility Ge pMOSFET applications.