XRD and XPS characterisation of transition metal silicide thin films

Tam, Pui Lam; Cao, Yu; Nyborg, Lars

doi:10.1016/j.susc.2011.10.015

Cited by 51 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This observation is also confirmed by the simultaneous existence of a chemical shift in its counterpart Si2p core level, which reaches a very small, but detectable, value (þ0.20 eV) due to the high resolution data obtained in the XPS experiments with monochromatic radiation. Both results are in agreement to the previous values reported in the literature [33][34][35] and suggest the formation of silicide at the interface. In addition, to unequivocally determine the formation of silicide at the interface, spectra do not only reveal line-shape changes but also they are to be decomposed into chemically shifted components associated to the Co-silicide phases.…”

Section: B Film-substrate Interfacesupporting

confidence: 93%

On the limits of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy tuning by a ripple surface pattern

Arranz

Colino

Palomares

2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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Ion beam patterning of a nanoscale ripple surface has emerged as a versatile method of imprinting uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) on a desired in-plane direction in magnetic films. In the case of ripple patterned thick films, dipolar interactions around the top and/or bottom interfaces are generally assumed to drive this effect following Schlömann's calculations for demagnetizing fields of an ideally sinusoidal surface [E. Schlömann, J. Appl. Phys. 41, 1617 (1970)]. We have explored the validity of his predictions and the limits of ion beam sputtering to induce UMA in a ferromagnetic system where other relevant sources of magnetic anisotropy are neglected: ripple films not displaying any evidence of volume uniaxial anisotropy and where magnetocrystalline contributions average out in a fine grain polycrystal structure. To this purpose, the surface of 100 nm cobalt films grown on flat substrates has been irradiated at fixed ion energy, fixed ion fluency but different ion densities to make the ripple pattern at the top surface with wavelength Λ and selected, large amplitudes (ω) up to 20 nm so that stray dipolar fields are enhanced, while the residual film thickness t = 35–50 nm is sufficiently large to preserve the continuous morphology in most cases. The film-substrate interface has been studied with X-ray photoemission spectroscopy depth profiles and is found that there is a graded silicon-rich cobalt silicide, presumably formed during the film growth. This graded interface is of uncertain small thickness but the range of compositions clearly makes it a magnetically dead layer. On the other hand, the ripple surface rules both the magnetic coercivity and the uniaxial anisotropy as these are found to correlate with the pattern dimensions. Remarkably, the saturation fields in the hard axis of uniaxial continuous films are measured up to values as high as 0.80 kG and obey a linear dependence on the parameter ω2/Λ/t in quantitative agreement with Schlömann's prediction for a surface anisotropy entirely ruled by dipolar interaction. The limits of UMA tuning by a ripple pattern are discussed in terms of the surface local angle with respect to the mean surface and of the onset of ripple detachment.

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Section: B Film-substrate Interfacesupporting

confidence: 93%

On the limits of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy tuning by a ripple surface pattern

Arranz

Colino

Palomares

2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…4. The characteristic binding energy of TiN [28], ZrN [29,30], TiSi 2 [31], SiN x [30,32] and Si 3 N 4 [33,34] referenced in the literature are indicated by vertical lines. The analysis of XPS data testifies that when adding the silicon to TiZrN film the chemical bonds which are inherent to SiN x and Si 3 N 4 phases are formed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and hardness of quaternary TiZrSiN thin films deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering

et al. 2015

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“…The TiSi x phase should give rise to a lower binding energy peak in the Ti 2p 3/2 spectra compared to TiN. 57 Although the binding energy values of Ti and TiSi x are close in value, 58,59 the lack of reflections in the GIIXRD spectra corresponding to pure Ti suggests that this peak is due to a silicide phase and not Ti metal. Further evidence of the occurrence of a silicidation reaction is shown in the TEM micrographs in Fig.…”

Section: A Stacks With Tin Metal Gate-physical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering crystallinity of atomic layer deposited gate stacks containing ultrathin HfO2 and a Ti-based metal gate: Effects of postmetal gate anneal and integration schemes

Consiglio¹,

Tapily²,

Clark³

et al. 2014

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phen

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In this study, the authors examined the effects of different annealing schemes on crystallinity in atomic layer deposition (ALD) grown Ti-containing metal gates and ultrathin ALD HfO 2 high-k dielectric layers, and corresponding electrical results in metal oxide semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) devices. The authors investigated the effect of a postmetal deposition anneal (PMA) on the underlying HfO 2 , which was deposited using either a standard ALD process or a process which utilized a cyclical deposition and annealing scheme (termed DADA). The effect of the starting substrate surface, either chemically grown SiO 2 or H-terminated Si, on HfO 2 crystallinity was also studied. For 40 cycle ALD HfO 2 ($32 Å ) with a TiN overlayer, a transition from an amorphous state to a cubic phase was observed with the application of a PMA treatment. Evidence of the orthorhombic phase of HfO 2 with some level of texturing was observed for 40 cycle DADA processed films annealed with a TiN cap. Concomitantly a cubic (111) texture was observed for TiN deposited on DADA processed HfO 2 and subjected to a PMA. Suppression of crystallinity for HfO 2 deposited on H-terminated Si and annealed with a TiN layer was observed which illustrates the need for an adequate nucleation layer for uniform grain growth and increased atomic ordering. The authors also investigated metal gate stacks with a bilayer of TiN overlying Ti which showed reflections from both cubic TiN and hexagonal TiN 0.3 in the as-deposited state and after annealing clear evidence of silicidation (TiSi x ) was observed. In MOSCAP structures with 40 cycle ALD HfO 2 and a TiN overlayer subjected to a PMA, although the cubic phase of HfO 2 was stabilized, there was no associated improvement in device scaling. This study highlights the importance of the initial crystalline state and nucleation of HfO 2 as well as the thermal stability of the capping metal layer material when engineering dielectric layer crystallinity by means of a postmetal cap anneal. For ultrathin HfO 2 integrated in advanced metal oxide semiconductor structures, the benefits of the stabilization of a higher-k phase through postmetal gate anneal may not be fully realized due to increased leakage along grain boundaries or decrease in effective k due to changes in the lower-k interfacial layer.

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XRD and XPS characterisation of transition metal silicide thin films

Cited by 51 publications

References 48 publications

On the limits of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy tuning by a ripple surface pattern

On the limits of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy tuning by a ripple surface pattern

Structure and hardness of quaternary TiZrSiN thin films deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering

Engineering crystallinity of atomic layer deposited gate stacks containing ultrathin HfO2 and a Ti-based metal gate: Effects of postmetal gate anneal and integration schemes

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