Drastic suppression of thermally induced leakage of NiSi silicided shallow junctions by pre-SALICIDE fluorine implantation

Thermally unstable NiSi films on shallow junctions are known to induce large leakage current on heat stimulus. Thus, a sensitive and comparative investigation is conducted on efficiency of leakage suppression by pre-SALICIDE ion implantation (PSII) for NiSi formation. F-PSII is found to be greatly superior to N-PSII. Unlike N-PSII, F-PSII drastically reduces the leakage without causing any major disturbances to critical CMOS characteristics. Leakage suppression up to 6 orders of magnitude is successfully attained.