Sd. Kim et al., RAPID THERMAL-PROCESS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF COLLIMATED TITANIUM NITRIDE BARRIERS, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 144(2), 1997, pp. 664-669
A rapid thermal processing (RTP) method to improve the barrier propert
ies of collimated titanium nitride (TiN) was studied. The RTP for the
collimated TiN shows a significantly improved diffusion barrier proper
ty with reduced electrical contact resistance compared to a convention
al furnace annealing process. Aluminum planarization was performed on
subhalf micron contacts with various TiN barrier processes to examine
electrical properties. When RTP is used, collimated TiN of much smalle
r thickness than the furnace-annealed collimated TiN shows reliable el
ectrical contact properties without junction leakage failure at subhal
f micron contacts. When simultaneous in situ RTP for Ti silicidation a
nd stuffing is performed, we obtain greatly improved p(+) contact resi
stance. This is due to the phase transformation of Ti-Si amorphous lay
er to crystalline TiSi2 at Si/barrier interface, as observed by cross-
sectional transmission electron microscope.