Epitaxial growth of CoSi{sub 2} in a decanano contact opening on a (100) silicon substrate

The behavior of cobalt silicidation was investigated in a 45-nm-wide contact opening on (100) silicon substrate. A Co film was deposited using sputtering techniques with elongated target-to-wafer spacing and a CoSi{sub 2} phase was developed after being annealed using rapid thermal processing at 750 deg. C for 30 s. It was revealed that the CoSi{sub 2} was grown epitaxially both on {l_brace}111{r_brace} and (100) Si at the same time, resulting in a faceted single crystal. Type A epitaxy on {l_brace}111{r_brace} Si was developed due to the coepitaxial growth. It was suggested that the tendency for the epitaxial growth of CoSi{sub 2} was strong in such a highly confined contact opening.