Impact of cobalt silicidation on the low-frequency noise behavior of shallow p-n junctions

This work describes the low-frequency noise of forward biased shallow p-n junctions fabricated in epitaxial silicon substrates. Particular emphasis is on the effect of silicidation on the low-frequency noise spectral density S/sub I/. It is demonstrated that the observed 1/f noise is significantly larger in Co-silicided junctions compared with the nonsilicided ones. A detailed analysis of the current and geometry dependence of S/sub I/ leads to the conclusion that the 1/f noise is of the generation-recombination (GR) type, with the responsible GR centres homogeneously distributed over the device area. From the correlation with the forward current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it is derived that GR fluctuations in the hole current through the n/sup +/ region cause the increased 1/f noise in the silicided devices.