Influence of Incorporating Rare Earth Metals on the Schottky Barrier Height of Ni Silicide

Characterized herein is a different physical mechanism for the formation of Ni silicide by incorporating rare earth (RE) metals such as ytterbium (Yb), erbium (Er), and dysprosium (Dy). Although the incorporation of any RE metal increases the Schottky barrier height (SBH) for holes in Ni silicide due to the formation of a ternary phase silicide, Yb induced the greatest increase in SBH because, unlike the other metals, Yb atoms accumulated at the silicide/silicon interface. (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics