ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates interfacial reaction of Ni on Si1-xGex epitaxial layers as a function of annealing temperature in the range of 300–800 °C. Glancing X-ray diffraction results show that for the reactions of Ni on Si1-xGex, only Ni germanosilicide phase is observed when annealed at temperatures in the range of 300–800 °C. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy results show that Ge outdiffuses rapidly from the Ni germanosilcide and is segregated at the germanosilcide/SiGe interface regions and the surface regions between the agglomerated germanosilcide grains. SiGe layers are of considerable importance because of their potential applications in high-speed electronic and optoelectronic devices. Since SiGe films could be used as the gate and source/drain of metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors, the formation of silicide contacts on SiGe films is vital. For SiGe-based device applications, the formation of thermally stable and uniform Ni germanosilicide is essential.
