Chun-Chun Lin

Reliability study of sub-micron titanium silicide contacts

Abstract Kelvin bridge type contact resistance test structures were fabricated for studying the behavior of p-type titanium silicide contacts of sub-micron dimensions. The shallow junctions were formed by using the implant through metal (ITM) technique. SIMS profiles showed that the boron concentration at the silicide-Si interface was about 2 × 1020 cm−3. The resulted specific contact resistivity was in the range of (3–6) × 10 −7 Ω· cm 2 . For the contacts whose smallest size is 0.5 × 0.5 μm2, the contact resistance still increased linearly with the inverse of contact area. Electrical stress test revealed that the sub-micron contacts exhibited degradation phenomena even though a titanium tungsten layer was deposited prior to depositing aluminum contact pads. In some cases, the degradation rate was found to be dependent on the polarity of stressing current. This study indicates that the reliability of sub-micron contacts needs to be seriously considered.

Synthesis, characterization and cathodoluminescence of nanostructured SnO2 using microwave plasma enhanced CVD

Nanostructured tin oxides have been synthesized in the form of nano-pins using SnCl2 ? 2H2O as precursors in a short period of 2.5?min by microwave plasma enhanced CVD. The resulting nano-pins have square cross sections of 50?60?nm at the pin head, 10?20?nm at the pin proper and less than 5?nm at the pin tail; the full length of the pin is about several micrometres. The optical properties measured by cathodoluminescence show strong indigo emission at 404 and 460?nm. The nucleation and growth are dominated by a self-catalytic vapour?liquid?solid mechanism, which has been studied in this work.