On the kinetics of platinum silicide formation

In this work, the kinetics of platinum silicide formation for thin Pt films _50 nm_ on monocrystalline _100_ silicon is investigated via in situ resistance measurements under isothermal _197–275 °C_conditions. For Pt2Si diffusion limited growth was observed. For PtSi formation, however, no linear relation between silicide thickness and _t was found. PtSi growth over time could be described using the Avrami relation rendering Avrami exponent n=1.4_0.1. Additionally, an effective activation energy EA=1.7_0.1 eV was derived using the Avrami k values. The findings are important for obtaining well defined silicide films and silicide-to-silicon contacts. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.