Pulsed laser-induced silicidation on TiN-capped Co/Si bilayers

摘要

This paper studies the effects of pulsed laser-induced annealing of TiN-capped Co/Si bilayers with and without preamorphized Si substrate. For a low fluence of 0.2 J/cm~2, nonstoichiometry Co silicide with triple-layered structure is formed. On the other hand, highly textured CoSi_2 grains in (111) direction are formed for a high fluence of 0.7 J/cm~2. The highly textured CoSi_2 layer is monocrystalline and fully coherent with the (111) plane of the Si substrate. However, it has a large amount of microstructural defects throughout the layer. Competitive growth mechanisms between crystallization of homogenous intermixed layer and the nucleation from the melt boundary are discussed.