Nickel silicide formation by electroless technique for ULSI technology
In this paper we report on the formation of nickel silicide by electroless process. The nickel plating solution was composed of a mixture of NiSO46H2O, NaH2PO2H2O, Na3C6H5O7, and NH4Cl, where NiSO46H2O is the main nickel source and NaH2PO2H2O is the reducing agent. The nickel silicide formation was carried out by heating the deposited samples in vacuum at temperatures from 100C to 800C. The evolution of NiSi phase from the nickel film was verified using the X-ray diffraction technique and Raman spectroscopy. The surface morphology was studied using AFM technique. The electroless plating technique can provide a cheap and easy process for forming nickel silicide, and has potentiality of application for the electronic device industries.
nickel silicide electroless x-ray diffraction raman spectrum