Foreign atom incorporation during metal silicide formation by ion beam synthesis

Depth distributions were measured of foreign atoms incorporated during the formation of thin silicide surface layers by ion beam synthesis. Si (111) wafers were implanted with Co and V ions using a pulsed Metal Vapour Vacuum Arc (MEVVA) ion source operated at 40 kV extraction voltage. Post-implantation analysis was carried out using Time of Flight-Energy dispersive Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ToF-E ERDA) with 60 MeV 127I10+. The results showed that addition to the metal ions, carbon and oxygen were incorporated at at.% levels, with distributions that were peaked at the surface and extended into the implanted layer. The findings suggest that incorporation of C and O is significantly influenced by the degree of silicide formation, with more continuous and stoichiometric silicides corresponding to a lower incorporation of foreign atoms.