Excimer laser-induced Ti silicidation to eliminate the fine-line effect for integrated circuit device fabrication

Abstract

In this paper laser thermal processing (LTP) is applied to induce the Ti silicide formation in replacement of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in narrow lines. Results show that the C40 TiSi2 is synthesized after LTP in both large and small features. With this interfacial C40 TiSi2, the C54 TiSi2-phase formation temperature can be lowered by 100°C during subsequent annealing. The C40-C54-phase transition is also achievable with low temperature treatment. Most importantly, the C54 TiSi2 growth is linewidth independent down to at least 0.25 μm using LTP followed by RTA. LTP provides a possible technique to extend the application of TiSi2 to subquartermicrometer technologies.