PROPERTIES OF PALLADIUM SILICIDE THIN-FILMS OBTAINED BY VACUUM RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING OF RF-SPUTTERED PD FILMS ON SI

The possibility of obtaining palladium silicide layers by rapid therma l annealing (RTA) has been studied. Palladium layers of 300 and 1000 A ngstrom thicknesses were deposited by r. f. sputtering on Si substrate s. The samples were subjected to RTA at 800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 degre es C for 15 s, 30 s, 1 min and 3 min in vacuum 5 x 10(-5) Torr. The de posited structure was studied by RHEED. The dependence of the structur e and the sheet resistance of the Pd-Si films, as a function of the RT A condition, was established. The sample temperature in the RTA system could be increased from room temperature to the working temperature ( 800-1400 degrees C) in 2 s. Pd2Si was formed after annealing at 1400 d egrees C even for short times of 15 s. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.