Pt redistribution in N-MOS transistors during Ni salicide process

Atom probe tomography was used to study the redistribution of platinum during Ni(10 at.%Pt) silicidation of n-doped polycrystalline Si. These measurements were performed after the two annealing steps of standard salicide process both on a field-effect transistor and on unpatterned region submitted to the same process. Very similar results are obtained in unpatterned region and in transistor gate contact. The first phase to form is not the expected δ-Ni2Si but the non stoichiometric θ-Ni2Si. Pt redistribution is strongly influenced by this phase and the final distribution is different from what is reported in literature. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.