Thermally Robust Ni Germanide Technology Using Cosputtering of Ni and Pt for High-Performance Nanoscale Ge MOSFETs

Thermally robust Ni germanide (NiGe) using the cosputtering of Ni and Pt on Ge-on-Si substrate is proposed for high-performance nanoscale germanium metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (Ge MOSFETs). The rapid thermal process temperature window for the stable sheet resistance of the proposed Ni-Pt cosputtered structures was about 50-100°C wider than that of the pure Ni structure, with neither NiGe agglomeration nor local penetration of Ni atoms into the substrate. In addition, the surface and interfacial morphologies of the Ni-Pt cosputtered structure were much smoother and more continuous than those of a pure Ni structure. The improvement in the thermal stability was attributed to the change of the crystal structure due to the suppression of the diffusion of Ni atoms and the uniform distribution of Pt atoms. Therefore, this proposed Ni-Pt cosputtered structure could be promising for high-mobility Ge-on-Si MOSFET applications.