Schottky barrier height tuning of silicide on Si1-x Cx

Abstract

We have demonstrated the tuning of Schottky barrier height (SBH) of nickel silicide on silicon-carbon (Si1-x Cx) by varying the carbon mole fraction, x. The SBH (for electron conduction) has been found to decrease with carbon concentration at a rate of ∼6.6 meV / (0.1% carbon). We have achieved ∼27 meV drop in SBH with 0.4% carbon incorporation in Si1-x Cx and shown that 1.3% carbon could lead to more than 85 meV improvement. Furthermore, our results show an avenue to reduce the SBH of rare earth silicide contacts in n -channel Schottky transistors by fabricating them on Si1-x Cx. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.