RF heating of the conductor film on silicon substrate for thin film formation

A new method of rapid thermal process (RTP) is proposed which is based on a n induction heating (IH) of a thin conducting film placed on a silicon subs trate in a radio-frequency magnetic field perpendicular to the film surface . The characteristic property of the method is that no additional susceptor is required in contrast to the traditional IH methods, despite the fact th at thickness of the conductor film/Si substrate structure is less than a sk in-layer depth. Silicides, nitrides, borides, or conventional metallic film s, etc. possessing a low electrical resistivity can be treated by the novel method. A theoretical model based on a numerical solution of quasi-station ary Maxwell's equations coupled with the non-stationary thermal equation ta king into account the dependence of the resistivity and the thermal capacit y on temperature was developed. Theoretical calculations have shown the fea sibility of the fabrication of conductor film/silicon substrate structures. Preliminary experimental results confirming the theoretical calculations f or TiSi2 film production are presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.