• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.733-737
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• 2008

In this paper, Ni-Co alloy was used to improve thermal stability of Ni Germanide. It was found that uniform germanide is obtained on epitaxial Ge-on-Si substrate by employing Ni-Co alloy. Moreover, neither agglomeration nor penetration is observed during post-germanidation annealing process. The thermal stability of Ni germanide using Ni-Co alloy is improved due to the less agglomeration of Germanide. Therefore, the proposed Ni-Co alloy is promising for highly thermal immune Ni germanide for nano scale Ge-MOSFETs technology.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.17-18
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• 2008

In this paper, 1%-nitrogen doped Nickel was used for improvement of thermal stability of Ni-Germanide. Proposed Ni-N(1%)/TiN structure has shown better thermal stability, sheet resistance and less agglomeration characteristic than pure Ni/TiN structure. During the germanidation process, it is believed that the nitrogen atoms in the deposited nickel layer can suppress the agglomeration of Ni germanide by retarding the diffusion of Ni atoms toward silicon layer, hence improve the thermal stability of Ni-germanide.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2015

The reaction kinetics of the growth of Ni germanide in the Ni/Zr-interlayer/Ge system was investigated using isothermal in situ annealing at three different temperatures in a transmission electron microscope. The growth rate of Ni germanide in the Ni/Zr-interlayer/Ge system was determined to be diffusion controlled and depended on the square root of the time, with the activation energy of $1.04P{\pm}0.04eV$. For the Ni/Zr-interlayer/Ge system, no intermediate or intermixing layer between the Zr-interlayer and Ge substrate was formed, and thus the Ni germanide was formed and grew uniformly due to Ni diffusion through the diffusion path created in the amorphous Zr-interlayer during the annealing process in the absence of any intermetallic compounds. The reaction kinetics in the Ni/Zr-interlayer/Ge system was affected only by the Zr-interlayer.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.210-214
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• 2016

In this paper, the decrease in the contact resistance of Ni germanide/Ge contact was studied as a function of the thickness of the antimony (Sb) interlayer for high performance Ge MOSFETs. Sb layers with various thickness of 2, 5, 8 and 12 nm were deposited by RF-Magnetron sputter on n-type Ge on Si wafers, followed by in situ deposition of 15nm-thick Ni film. The contact resistance of samples with the Sb interlayer was lower than that of the reference sample without the Sb interlayer. We found that the Sb interlayer can lower the contact resistance of Ni germanide/Ge contact but the reduction of contact resistance becomes saturated as the Sb interlayer thickness increases. The proposed method is useful for high performance n-channel Ge MOSFETs.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.277-282
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• 2017

Nickel germanide (NiGe) is one of the most promising alloy materials for source/drain (S/D) of Ge MOSFETs. However, NiGe has limited thermal stability up to $450^{\circ}C$ which is a challenge for fabrication of Ge MOSFETs. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to improve the thermal stability of NiGe using Co interlayer. As a result, we found that the thermal stability of NiGe was improved from $450^{\circ}C$ to $570^{\circ}C$ by using the proposed Co interlayer. Furthermore, we found that current-voltage (I-V) characteristic was improved a little by using Co/Ni/TiN structure after post-annealing. Therefore, NiGe formed by the proposed Co interlayer that is, Co/Ni/TiN structure, is a promising technology for S/D contact of Ge MOSFETs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2006

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2018

Ni germanide (NiGe) is a promising alloy material with small contact resistance at the source/drain (S/D) of Ge MOSFETs. However, it is necessary to reduce the specific contact resistance between NiGe and the doped Ge S/D region in high-performance MOSFETs. In this study, a novel method is proposed to reduce the specific contact resistance between NiGe and p-type Ge (p-Ge) using a Tb interlayer. The specific contact resistance between NiGe and p-Ge was successfully decreased with the introduction of the Tb interlayer. To investigate the mechanism behind the reduction in the specific contact resistance, the elemental distribution and crystalline structure of NiGe were analyzed using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. It is likely that the reduction in specific contact resistance was caused by an increase in the concentration of boron in the space between NiGe and p-Ge due to the influence of the Tb interlayer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.138-138
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• 2008

Ti capping layer를 이용하여 NiGe의 열적 안정성을 향상시키는 연구를 수행하였다. N-type Ge(100) 기판에 30nm 두께의 Ni과 30nm 두께의 Ti capping layer를 E-beam evaporator를 이용하여 증착하고 $300^{\circ}C$에서 $700^{\circ}C$ 까지 30초간 $N_2$ 분위기에서 급속 열처리하여 Ni-Germanide를 형성하였다. XRD의 결과로부터 Ti capping layer 유무에 상관없이, 전 온도 범위에 걸쳐 NiGe 상이 형성된 것을 관찰할 수 있었다. 급속 열처리 온도에 따른 면저항 값을 측정한 경우, $300^{\circ}C$에서 $600^{\circ}C$까지의 열처리 온도 범위에서는 모든 시편들이 비슷한 면저항 값을 보인 반면, 열처리 온도가 $700^{\circ}C$ 이상에서는 Ti capping layer가 있는 시편이 Ti capping layer가 없는 시편보다 낮은 면저항 값을 갖는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 이는 고온 열처리 시 Ti capping layer에 있는 Ti가 기판 방향으로 확산하여 NiGe grain boundary에 segregation 되고 그로 인하여 NiGe의 grain boundary 움직임을 억제하여 agglomeration 현상을 효과적으로 방지하였기 때문에 나타난 현상으로 사료된다.