The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 22, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2001
Cyril Cabral, Jr., Ossining, NY (US);
Roy Arthur Carruthers, Stormville, NY (US);
James McKell Edwin Harper, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
Christian Lavoie, Ossining, NY (US);
Ronnen Andrew Roy, Ossining, NY (US);
Yun Yu Wang, Poughguag, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method of reducing the contact resistance of metal silicides to the p+ silicon area or the n+ silicon area of the substrate comprising: (a) forming a metal germanium (Ge) layer over a silicon-containing substrate, wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of Co, Ti, Ni and mixtures thereof; (b) optionally forming an oxygen barrier layer over said metal germanium layer; (c) annealing said metal germanium layer at a temperature which is effective in converting at least a portion thereof into a substantially non-etchable metal silicide layer, while forming a Si—Ge interlayer between said silicon-containing substrate and said substantially non-etchable metal silicide layer; and (d) removing said optional oxygen barrier layer and any remaining alloy layer. When a Co or Ti alloy is employed, e.g., Co—Ge or Ti—Ge, two annealing steps are required to provide the lowest resistance phase of those metals, whereas, when Ni is employed, a single annealing step forms the lowest resistance phase of Ni silicide.