Microwave plasma anneal to fabricate silicides and restrain the formation of unstable phases

Microwave hydrogen plasma annealing is utilized to anneal Ti and Co films on p-type Si wafers to prepare C54 phase TiSi₂ and CoSi₂ at lower temperatures respectively, indicating the unstable phases are restrained in the solid state reaction due to the existence of microwave field which promotes atoms diffusion between nano-scale thickness metal film and Si substrate during anneal. The method is potential to be used in nano scale devices fabrication to decrease thermal budget during IC process.