Nuclear microprobe application to semiconductor process development - silicide formation and multi-layered structure

A nuclear microprobe combined with Rutherford backscattering (RBS) can be applied to analysis of silicide formation processes and a multi-layered structure. Lateral overgrowth of cobalt silicide layers on silicon by RTA was found to be suppressed by an additional ion beam mixing process, though residual cobalt was found on insulating mask layers by ion beam mixing. Energy shift arising from RBS kinematics was found to deform tomographic images of multi-layered structures. Simple data correction on different paths of probe ions, i.e., energy loss, can provide a realistic tomographic image for a thin multi-layered structure.