Characterizations of Zr/Si 1-x-y Ge x C y After Rapid Thermal Annealing

In this work, we have investigated the reaction between Zr and SiGeC alloys after Rapid Thermal anneals performed at 800δC for 5 min. The interactions of the metal with the alloy have been investigated by X-Ray diffraction. Four crystal X-Ray diffraction was also performed to measure the residual strain in the epilayer. The final compound of the reaction is the C49- Zr(Si 1-x Ge x ) 2 phase. The C49 film contains the same Ge concentration as in the as-deposited Si 1-x-y Ge x C y layer. This suggests that no Ge-segregation occurs during annealing. Only a small strain relaxation is detected in the unreacted SiGe epilayer during the reaction. The addition of C in the epilayer prevents any strain relaxation. These results are in contrast with those observed in systems with Ti and Co, and show that the system Zr-Si-Ge is much more stable. Schottky barrier heights have been also measured: annealing leads to a slight decrease of the barrier without any degradation of the contact. The resistivity of the C49 film is about 80 μΩcm. These results indicate that Zr may be a good candidate for contacts on IV-IV alloys in term of thermal stability.