A new salicidation process with solid Antimony (Sb) segregation (SSbS) for achieving sub-0.1 eV effective schottky barrier height and parasitic series resistance reduction in N-channel transistors

Abstract

We report a new CMOS-compatible salicidation process to achieve sub-0.1 eV effective Schottky barrier (SB) height for NiSi/n-Si, one of the lowest values reported-to-date, and its device integration for contact resistance reduction in n-FETs. A thin solid Antimony (Sb) layer is inserted beneath Ni prior to S/D silicidation, acting as a large source of n-type dopants. After silicidation, a very high concentration of Sb is incorporated at the Ni Si/Si interface. This solid Sb segregation (SSbS) process reduces the effective SB height and parasitic series resistance. The SSbS process leads to enhanced n-FET performance without degradation in off-state leakage. © 2008 IEEE.