Patent ID: 8101518

Claim:
A method of forming a self-aligned metal contact comprising the steps of: depositing a blanket layer of Ni with Pt on a surface of a structure including at least one gate region, wherein said Ni is present in a concentration from about 80 to about 95 atomic percent; forming an oxygen diffusion barrier layer on a surface of the blanket layer; heating the structure including the blanket layer to a temperature from about 300° C. to about 550° C. by raising the temperature from an ambient temperature at a ramp rate from about 1° C./sec to about 35° C./sec, holding the temperature for about 1 to about 60 seconds in an inert atmosphere containing less than about 1 ppm oxygen, and lowering the temperature below 100° C. within a time period from about 10 to about 600 seconds thereby forming a NiSi, PtSi contact on portions of the structure comprising silicon; and etching the structure after heating, said etching removes unreacted NiPt selective to the contact and comprises providing a bath comprising an oxidizing agent, a complexing agent and a solvent; holding the bath at a temperature in a range from about 30° C. to about 80° C. for at least 15 minutes; contacting the structure with said bath; holding said bath at a temperature in a range from about 30° C. to about 80° C. for about 10 to about 45 minutes; removing said structure from said bath; and rinsing said structure to remove traces of said bath from said structure and drying the same.