Electrically active defects in Ni–Si silicide studied by deep-level transient spectroscopy
Deep-level defects are introduced into silicon when nickel silicide is formed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Experimental results show that the deep-level defects are mainly related to Ni diffusion from the surface. Diffusion coefficients of the defects in Si at the temperature of 400 °C are calculated. The concentration of the deep-level defects varies with RTA temperature and the deep-level defects disappear at the annealing temperature above 500 °C. The current–voltage (I–V) measurements show that the reverse leakage current is increased by the deep-level defects.