Characterization of transient process phenomena using a temperature-tolerant metallurgy

Characterization of transient processes such as gettering, damage annealing, and rapid thermal treatments is a difficult problem, particularly in terms of identifying and understanding the physical processes involved. In this letter, a technique is described in which the aluminum metal layer in a conventional integrated-circuit structure is replaced by tungsten-silicide (WSi2). Since WSi2is stable at processing temperatures, this technique allows one to anneal finished devices and to study the effect of single or multiple heat treatments upon device performance. Such devices serve as a vehicle for characterizing and understanding the high-temperature processes. We demonstrate here the stability of WSi2during high-temperature anneals and discuss various experiments that such a technique allows.