Schottky Barrier Height Modulation of Nickel–Dysprosium-Alloy Germanosilicide Contacts for Strained P-FinFETs

This letter reports on the fabrication and hole Schottky barrier (Phi_B ^P) modulation of a novel nickel (Ni)dysprosium (Dy)-alloy germanosilicide (NiDySiGe) on silicon-germanium (SiGe). Aluminum (Al) implant is utilized to lower the Phi_B ^P of NiDySiGe from ~0.5 to ~0.12 eV, with a correspondingly increasing Al dose in the range of 0-2 times 10¹⁵ atoms/cm². When integrated as the contact silicide in p-FinFETs (with SiGe source/drain), NiDySiGe with an Al implant dose of 2 times 10¹⁴ atoms/cm² leads to 32% enhancement in Jdsat over p-FinFETs with conventional NiSiGe contacts. Ni-Dy-alloy silicide is a promising single silicide solution for series-resistance reduction in CMOS FinFETs.