The effects of growth temperature on the microstructure and electrical barrier height in PtSi/p-Si(100) Schottky barrier detector

The effects of growth temperature on the microstructure and electrical barr ier height of the PtSi Schottky barrier detector (SBD) have been investigat ed. PtSi films, 4 nm in thickness were deposited at various temperatures ra nging from 350 to 550 degreesC. The electron diffraction patterns showed th at PtSi film formed at 350 degreesC depicts an intermingling of both (1 (1) over bar1) and (1 (2) over bar1) orientations. However, only (1 (2) over b ar1) orientation was shown when the PtSi films were formed above 450 degree sC. Moreover, SBD formed at 350 degreesC was found to depict an electrical barrier that is approximately 0.02 eV higher than those formed above 450 de greesC. Although the microstructure and the electrical barrier height of th e PtSi film do not change when the formation temperature was further increa sed from 450 to 550 degreesC. Nevertheless, the higher formation temperatur e resulted in a larger grain size, indicating that grain size alone does no t affect the barrier height of the resultant SBD. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.