REDUCTION OF THE C49-C54 TISI2 PHASE-TRANSFORMATION TEMPERATURE BY REACTIVE TI DEPOSITION

The kinetic of the C49-C54 polymorphic transformation in titanium disi licides thin films grown on either (100) and amorphous Si substrates h as been studied. C49 TiSi2 layers were formed by rapid thermal process ing of Ti films deposited by electron beam in ultra high vacuum. The k inetic of the C49-C54 transformation was followed by sheet resistance measurements, while the morphology and the grain size of C49 TiSi were measured by atomic force microscopy. A relation between the sample pr eparation procedure, the C49 grain size and the transformation tempera ture was found. The activation energy for the transformation (3.9 +/- 0.3 eV) resulted to be independent of the C49 grain size.