Patent ID: 11965236
Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Field: Surface technology, coating (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  H | IPC C  H

Claim 10:
11. A method of lowering resistivity of a nickel silicide material comprising:
a) depositing a nickel silicide layer atop a substrate at a temperature of about 15° C. to about 27° C., wherein the nickel silicide layer is deposited by a physical vapor deposition process;
b) after depositing the nickel silicide layer, annealing the nickel silicide layer at a temperature over 350° C. for a duration sufficient to increase a grain size of a seed grain of the nickel silicide layer to at least 200 nm, wherein depositing the nickel silicide layer and annealing the nickel silicide layer are performed without vacuum break between depositing the nickel silicide layer and annealing the nickel silicide layer; and
c) after annealing the nickel silicide layer, repeating a) and b) until the nickel silicide material has a predetermined thickness.