Low specific contact resistance of NiSi and PtSi to Si: impact of interface

We recently reported low specific contact resistance values of NiSi and PtSi to silicon. In recent publications, such low values were attributed to dopant segregation. In this work, we tested this hypothesis by spreading resistance probe and secondary ion mass spectroscopy analyses. The observed weak dopant segregation could not explain lowering the contact resistance by orders of magnitude. Interface damage, intentionally created using Ni ion implantation, led to an increase of contact resistance (1–2 orders). We conclude that the low contact resistance is intrinsic to a high-quality silicide-silicon interface and can be obtained without active dopant segregation.