Identification of nickel silicide phases on a silicon surface from Raman spectra

We have demonstrated the effectiveness of Raman spectroscopy for monitoring nickel silicide formation processes on the surface of silicon wafers, with deposition of a composite metal layer (nickel, platinum, and vanadium) under industrial process conditions in microelectronics. The observed shift of all the NiSi lines toward lower energies is associated with formation of the metastable silicide phase Ni 1− x Pt x Si, which leads to the presence of stresses in the lattice as a result of the increase in the distances between atoms.