Nanometer patterning of thin CoSi2-films by application of local stress

We have developed a self-assembly method for patterning thin CoSi2 layers o n Si(100) during their formation in a solid state reaction. This technique is based on anisotropic diffusion in a local stress field during rapid ther mal processing. The stress is induced by a layer structure consisting of 30 nm SiO2 and 300 nm Si3N4 which is patterned with conventional optical lith ogaphy. We have investigated two different silicide formation processes. Fi rstly, we deposited Co on Si in a UHV MBE chamber. Rapid thermal annealing leads to the formation of polycrystalline CoSi2. Secondly, we used a titani um oxide mediated epitaxy process. For both processes we observed nanostruc tures with dimensions of about 100 nm showing wave-lice separation edges in the first case and good uniformity in the second case. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.