Silicide formation by pulsed-incoherent-light annealing

Nickel silicide formation is studied using a pulsed incoherent light source of variable duration in the range 5-50 μs. The potential advantages of the arc source over other pulsed techniques such as electron (e)-beam and laser annealing are simplicity, higher electrical-conversion efficiency, and larger area processing. The plasma arc provided incident light energy density in the range 5–45 J/cm2, and our results indicate that mixed layers of nickel and silicon can be produced using this source at about 45 J/cm2. It was found that a thin layer of amorphous silicon on the nickel enhanced light absorption and mixing. Rutherford back scattering and scanning Auger microprobe techniques were used to characterize the mixed layers. The incoherent light annealing is believed to be a rapid thermal process, which in our case results either in solid- or liquid-phase epitaxial regrowth depending on the annealing conditions.