Patent ID: 7622388

Claim:
A method of forming titanium silicide, comprising at least two iterations of the following sequence in the following order: exposing a substrate to at least one titanium-containing precursor in the absence of hydrogen-containing fluid to form a titanium-containing layer on the substrate, the substrate comprising silicon; and forming titanium silicide from titanium of the titanium-containing layer, wherein the formation of the titanium silicide comprises exposure of the titanium-containing layer to hydrogen-containing fluid, and migration of silicon from the substrate to interact with titanium of the titanium-containing layer; and wherein an earlier of the at least two iterations has a shorter exposure of the substrate to the at least one titanium-containing precursor and longer exposure of the substrate to the hydrogen-containing fluid than a later of the at least two iterations; the earlier of the at least two iterations forming a first portion of the titanium silicide, said first portion being substantially entirely in the C-54 phase and thus being a C-54 phase template; the later of the at least two iterations forming a second portion of the titanium silicide, and comprising conditions less conducive to forming the C-54 phase than the earlier of the at least two iterations; the second portion being substantially entirely in the C-54 phase due, at least in part, to the C-54 phase being induced from the C-54 phase template.