Session 7A-2

Novel Epitaxial Nickel Aluminide-Silicide with LowSchottky-Barrier and Series Resistance
for Enhanced Performance of Dopant-SegregatedSource/Drain N-channel MuGFETs

 

Abstract

We have developed a novel epitaxial nickel-aluminide silicide (NiSi2-xAlx) to reduce the Schottky-Barrier height (SBH) and series resistance in n-channel MuGFETs with dopant-segregated Schottky-Barrier source/drain (DSS). 10% substitutional incorporation of Al in the Si matrix at the silicide-Si interface leads to a 37% reduction in the intrinsic SBH of nickel silicide. A further 42% effective reduction in the DSS SBH was attained with the combination of NiSi2-xAlx and DSS technology. Saturation drive current enhancement of 94 % for NiSi2-xAlx DSS MuGFETs over NiSi DSS MuGFETs was achieved, attributed to SBH lowering, series resistance reduction and possibly silicide strain effects. As a result, an excellent drive current of 882 micro-ampereA/micron at VGS-VT =VDS = 1.2 V was achieved for NiSi2-xAlx DSS MuGFETs with 55 nm gate length.