Tailoring of nickel silicide contacts on silicon carbide

Co-deposition technique by means of simultaneous ion beam sputtering of nickel and silicon onto SiC was performed for tailoring of Ni-silicide/SiC contacts. The prepared samples were analysed by means of XRD and XPS in order to obtain information about the surface and interface chemistry. Depth profiling was used in order to analyse in-depth information and chemical distribution of the specimens. XRD results showed that the main phase formed is Ni₂Si. The XPS analysis confirmed the formation of the silicide on the surface and showed details about the chemical composition of the layer and layer/substrate interface. Moreover, the XPS depth profiles with detailed analysis of XPS peaks suggested that tailoring of C distribution could be monitored by the co-deposition technique employed.