Contact structures in semicondcutor devices

A semiconductor device, comprising:

• a gate structure disposed on first and second fin structures;
• a merged source/drain (S/D) region disposed on the first and second fin structures;
• and
• a contact structure disposed on the merged S/D region,
• wherein the contact structure comprises ternary compound clusters disposed on the merged S/D region, a work function metal (WFM) silicide layer disposed on the ternary compound clusters and the merged S/D region, and a contact plug disposed on the WFM silicide layer.

A method, comprising:

• forming a fin structure on a substrate;
• forming a source/drain (S/D) region on the fin structure;
• forming a contact opening on the S/D region;
• forming a doped work function metal (nWFM) silicide layer within the contact opening;
• forming a ternary compound layer between the doped WFM silicide layer and the S/D region;
• and
• forming a contact plug within the contact opening.