Growth behavior and thermal stability of epitaxial CoSi2 layer from cobalt-carbon films on (100) Si substrate

A uniform epitaxial CoSi2 layer was grown on (100) Si substrate by rapid th ermal annealing at 800 degrees C in N-2 ambient without capping layers from an amorphous cobalt-carbon film. The amorphous cobalt-carbon film was depo sited on Si substrate by the pyrolysis of cyclopentadienyl dicarbonyl cobal t, Co(eta(5)-C5H5)(CO)(2), at 350 degrees C. The discrete epitaxial CoSi2 l ayers with {111} and (100) faceted interfaces were formed on (100) Si subst rate at the initial stage of reaction between Co and Si. Annealing at eleva ted temperatures lowered the roughness of the CoSi2/Si interface. The leaka ge current measured on the junction, fabricated with the epitaxial CoSi2 la yer and annealed at 1000 degrees C for 30 s, was as low as that of the as-f abricated junction without silicide. The result indicates that epitaxial (1 00) CoSi2 is thermally stable at temperatures even above 1000 degrees C and has potential application to the salicide process in subhalf micron device s. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)05618-2].