In this paper, we present results of transmission electron microscopy studies on erbium silicide structures fabricated under various thermal conditions. A titanium cap has been used as a protective layer against oxidation during rapid thermal annealing of an erbium layer in a temperature range of 300-700 degrees C. Both layers (200 nm Ti and 25 nm Er) were deposited by electron-beam sputtering. The investigations have shown that the transformation of the 25-nm-thick erbium into erbium silicide is completed after annealing at 500 degrees C. At higher temperatures, the formation of a titanium silicide layer above erbium silicide is observed. The lowest Schottky barrier has been measured in the sample annealed at 700 degrees C.
Ratajczak, J. ; Laszcz, A. ; Czerwinski, A. ; Katcki, J. ; Phillipp, F. ; et. al. Transmission electron microscopy study of erbium silicide formation from Ti/Er stack for Schottky contact applications.13th International Conference on Electron Microscopy (Zakopane(Poland), Jun 08-11, 2008). In: Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 237, no. 3, p. 379-383 (2010)