Microstructural and electrical properties of epitaxial PtSi/p-Si(100) co-deposited under ultrahigh vacuum

Epitaxial PtSi/p-Si(100) contacts were fabricated by co-depositing Pt and Si on p-Si(100) at 450 °C in a dual electron gun chamber at a base pressure of 10−10 Torr. The PtSi/p-Si(100) film possessed six types of epitaxial modes, as indicated in the electron diffraction patterns. The average grain size of the PtSi grains was measured to be 100–300 Å through the Moiré fringe image. The Schottky barrier height of the epitaxial PtSi/p-Si(100) diode was determined to be 0.249 eV at 100 K, with an ideality factor of 1.04. In contrast to this, the Schottky barrier height of the polycrystalline PtSi/p-Si(100) diode was 0.229 eV at 100 K, with an ideality factor of 1.05. The difference in Schottky barrier height was attributed to the difference in the atomic arrangement at interface.