SILICIDE FORMATION IN THE CO-SI SYSTEM BY RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING

Rapid thermal annealing was used to obtain additional information on t he phases of the Co-Si system formed during the silicidation reaction between cobalt thin films and silicon substrates. The phase sequence, their stability and their coexistence were investigated by X-ray diffr action and sheet resistance. At an appropriate temperature all three p hases are likely to coexist for short times, although the most common observation is the sequential formation of Co2Si, CoSi and CoSi2 as re ported earlier. Cursory determination of the activation energy for CoS i2 formation by sheet resistance measurements is 241.1 kJ mol(-1).