Silicidation of Niobium Deposited on Silicon by Physical Vapor Deposition

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · J. Electrochem. Soc.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3609845· OSTI ID:1022044

Niobium was deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) using e-beam evaporation on bare (100) silicon substrates and SiO2 surfaces. The formation of niobium silicide was investigated by annealing PVD Nb films in the temperatures range 400–1000°C. At all elevated annealing temperatures the resistivity of Nb silicide is substantially higher than that of Nb. The Nb silicidation as a function of temperature has been investigated and different NbXSiy compounds have been characterized. It has been observed that the annealing of the Nb film on Si is accompanied by a strong volume expansion of about 2.5 of the resulting reacted film. The films' structural properties were studied using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), which was not previously presented in the context of the extant NbSi literature. The X-Ray diffraction characterization of the Nb on Si sample annealed at 1000°C, showed the presence of hexagonal Nb5Si3 phases, with a dominant peak at the (200) plane, and NbSi2 phases. Fractal dimension calculations indicate a distinct transition from Stranski-Krastanov to Volmer-Weber film growth for NbSi formation at the annealing temperature of 600°C and above.

• Research Organization: Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-06OR23177
• OSTI ID: 1022044
• Report Number(s): JLAB-ACC-11-1385; DOE/OR/23177-1726
• Journal Information: J. Electrochem. Soc., Journal Name: J. Electrochem. Soc. Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 158; ISSN 0013-4651; ISSN JESOAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
EVAPORATION
EXPANSION
FILMS
FRACTALS
FUNCTIONS
GROWTH
NIOBIUM
NIOBIUM SILICIDES
PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
SILICIDES
SILICON OXIDES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
VOLUME
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY