Influence of Ga on the growth of NiSi2 on Si

The study reports on the structure of thin ternary NiGaxSi2–x silicide layers grown on Si(001) by Ni/Ga codeposition at room temperature followed by subsequent annealing. The influence of both the Ga content and the annealing temperature on the phase formation and orientation of the layers was investigated for the first time. Addition of Ga leads to a decrease of the disilicide formation temperature down to less than 500 °C. Island formation is observed for the Ga content of 0.17 after annealing above 900 °C. The NiSi2‐xGax islands grow with a NiSi2–xGax(110) ‖ Si(001) texture. In contrast, closed epitaxial NiSi2–xGax layers of A‐type are obtained for the Ga content of 0.28 after annealing at 900 °C. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)