Tuning of Schottky Barrier Height at NiSi/Si Contact by Combining Dual Implantation of Boron and Aluminum and Microwave Annealing

Dopant-segregated source/drain contacts in a p-channel Schottky-barrier metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (SB-MOSFET) require further hole Schottky barrier height (SBH) regulation toward sub-0.1 eV levels to improve their competitiveness with conventional field-effect transistors. Because of the solubility limits of dopants in silicon, the requirements for effective hole SBH reduction with dopant segregation cannot be satisfied using mono-implantation. In this study, we demonstrate a potential solution for further SBH tuning by implementing the dual implantation of boron (B) and aluminum (Al) in combination with microwave annealing (MWA). By using such a method, not only has the lowest hole SBH ever with 0.07 eV in NiSi/n-Si contacts been realized, but also the annealing duration of MWA was sharply reduced to 60 s. Moreover, we investigated the SBH tuning mechanisms of the dual-implanted diodes with microwave annealing, including the dopant segregation, activation effect, and dual-barrier tuning effect of Al. With the selection of appropriate implantation conditions, the dual implantation of B and Al combined with the MWA technique shows promise for the fabrication of future p-channel SB-MOSFETs with a lower thermal budget.