# US 10,312,096 B2 · Methods for titanium silicide formation using TiCl4 precursor and silicon-containing precursor

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- Number: US 10,312,096 B2
- Document ID: US10312096B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/832,571
- Filed: 2017-12-05
- Published: 2018-06-14
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2016-12-12
- Assignees: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Applicants: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Inventors: Hua Chung; Matthias Bauer; Schubert S. Chu; Satheesh Kuppurao
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10312096B2

## CPC

- H10D 64/0112: {using conductive layers comprising silicides}
- H10D 30/0212: {using self-aligned silicidation}
- H10D 62/83: being Group IV materials, e.g. B-doped Si or undoped Ge
- H10D 62/832: being Group IV materials comprising two or more elements, e.g. SiGe
- H10D 62/834: further characterised by the dopants
- H10D 64/0113: {the conductive layers comprising highly doped semiconductor materials, e.g. polysilicon layers or amorphous silicon layers}
- H10D 64/62: Electrodes ohmically coupled to a semiconductor
- H10P 14/414: {of metal-silicide materials}
- H10P 14/42: using a gas or vapour
- H10P 14/43: Chemical deposition, e.g. chemical vapour deposition [CVD]
- H10P 95/90: Thermal treatments, e.g. annealing or sintering
- H10D 30/601: {having lightly-doped drain or source extensions, e.g. LDD IGFETs or DDD IGFETs (lightly doped source or drain extensions for TFTs H10D30/6715)}
- H10D 30/797: {being in source or drain regions, e.g. SiGe source or drain}
- H10D 62/151: {of IGFETs (of IGFETs having LDD or DDD structure H10D30/601; of thin film transistors H10D30/6713)}
- H10D 62/822: comprising only Group IV materials heterojunctions, e.g. Si/Ge heterojunctions
- H10P 14/3411: {Silicon, silicon germanium or germanium}
- H10P 70/10: {Cleaning before device manufacture, i.e. Begin-Of-Line process}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of selectively forming titanium silicides on substrates. The methods are generally utilized in conjunction with contact structure integration schemes. In one embodiment, a titanium silicide material is selectively formed on a substrate as an interfacial layer on a source/drain region. The titanium silicide layer may be formed at a temperature within range of about 400 degrees Celsius to about 500 degrees Celsius.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of forming a titanium silicide layer, comprising:
heating a substrate in a process chamber to a temperature within a range of 400 degrees Celsius to 500 degrees Celsius, the substrate comprising:
one or more source/drain regions;
one or more first n-type silicon layers disposed on the one or more source/drain regions; and
one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers disposed on the one or more first n-type silicon layers, each of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers having an n-type dopant concentration within a range of 1×1018 atoms/cm3 to 4×1021 atoms/cm3; and
exposing the substrate to a silicon precursor and titanium precursor concurrently while maintaining a pressure within the process chamber between 10 Torr and 100 Torr, the titanium precursor comprising TiCl4; and
forming a titanium silicide layer on the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the n-type dopant is phosphorus.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers comprises amorphous silicon.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers comprises crystalline silicon.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the n-type dopant is arsenic or antimony.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers comprises titanium.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the pressure within the process chamber is within a range of 80 Torr to 100 Torr.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers has a thickness of 1 nanometer to 10 nanometers.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers has a thickness of 5 nanometers or less.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising exposing the substrate to a TiCl4 soak prior to forming the titanium silicide layer.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the TiCl4 soak is performed for 15 seconds to 120 seconds.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the titanium silicide layer is C49 phase.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the titanium silicide layer is C54 phase.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers comprises germanium.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate further comprises field oxide layers, and formation of the titanium silicide is selective against the field oxide layers.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers have a higher dopant concentration than each of the one or more first n-type silicon layers.

### Claim 17

A method of forming a titanium silicide layer, comprising:
heating a substrate in a process chamber to a temperature within a range of 400 degrees Celsius to 500 degrees Celsius, the substrate comprising:
one or more first n-type silicon layers; and
one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers disposed over the one or more first n-type silicon layers, the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers having an n-type dopant concentration within a range of 1×1018 atoms/cm3 to 4×1021 atoms/cm3;
exposing the substrate to a silicon precursor and titanium precursor concurrently while maintaining a pressure within the process chamber between 80 Torr and 100 Torr, the titanium precursor comprising TiCl4; and
forming a titanium silicide layer on the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers have a higher dopant concentration than each of the one or more first n-type silicon layers.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of the one or more highly-doped n-type silicon layers has a thickness within a range of 1 nanometer to 10 nanometers.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the n-type dopant is phosphorus.