Microwave plasma anneal to fabricate silicides and restrain the formation of unstable phases

Microwave hydrogen plasma annealing is utilized to anneal Ti and Co films on p-type Si wafers to prepare C54 phase TiSi(2) and CoSi(2) at lower temperatures respectively, indicating the unstable phases are restrained in the solid state reaction due to the existence of microwave field which promotes atoms diffusion between nano-scale thickness metal film and Si substrate during anneal. The method is potential to be used in nano scale devices fabrication to decrease thermal budget during IC process.