Rapid electron beam reacted tantalum/titanium bilayers on silicon

The electrical and structural characteristics of tantalum-titanium bilayers on silicon reacted by electron beam heating have been investigated over a wide range of temperature and time conditions. The reacted layers exhibit low sheet resistance and stable electrical characteristics up to at least 1100degC. Titanium starts reacting from 750degC onwards for 100 milliseconds reaction times whereas tantalum starts reacting only above 900degC for such short reaction times. RBS results confirm that silicon is the major diffusing species and there is no evidence for the formation of ternary silicides. Reactions have also been explored on millisecond time scales by non-isothermal heating.