In situ X-ray diffraction study of the formation and texture of transient Sc and Y (germano)silicides for contact applications.

As a result of aggressive CMOS scaling, parasitic resistances play an increasingly important role in modern devices. Further improvements in device performance necessitate the use of new contact materials providing lower specific contact resistivities. The goal of this proposal is to investigate the silicidation of Sc and Y, deposited on highly doped epitaxial source/drain (S/D) layers, when subjected to post-metal annealing (PMA) treatments. The resulting (poly)crystallinity, and in particular, the texture of the metal (silicide) will be investigated by conducting in situ (i.e. temperature-resolved) X-ray diffraction (XRD) pole figure measurements.