Kinetics and Mechanism of the C49 to C54 Titanium Disilicide Phase Transformation in Nitrogen Ambient

Abstract

AbstractThe kinetics of the C49 to C54 TiSi2phase transformation in nitrogen ambient have been investigated in a temperature range from 700 °C to 800 °C for a range of titanium film thicknesses (135 Å to 350 Å) using sheet resistance measurement, Auger electron spectroscopy(AES), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy(RBS) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). About 80% of the titanium converts to titanium silicide with the rest converting to titanium nitride. The activation energies obtained for the C49 to C54 transformation in nitrogen ambient are lower, at least by 2–2.25 eV, than that obtained for the transformations occuring either in argon ambient or vacuum environment. This has been explained with a model involving stress state of titanium silicide film with titanium nitride overlayer.