Ultrathin Ni(Pt)Si Film Formation Induced by Laser Annealing

A highly sensitive dependence of laser annealing process on the as-deposited Ni(Pt) film thickness is observed and investigated for the first time. It is revealed that a much larger thermal budget is required for the thinner as-deposited Ni(Pt) film to form a high quality Ni(Pt)Si film, which is very different from the conventional rapid thermal process. Micro-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy both demonstrate that the same thermal budget can only induce a lower silicidation temperature for the thinner Ni(Pt) film. The lower silicidation temperature is attributed to the lower optical absorptivity of the thinner Ni(Pt) film.