AES-depth-profiling of thin annealed Pt-films on Si(100)

Thin PtSi films can be grown by evaporating Pt on Si(100) at RT and subsequent annealing of the system at 600–700 K. Contaminants like oxygen are known to have a strong influence on this reaction. In the present study we concentrate on the effect of oxygen partial pressure during the annealing on the silicide growth process. Under proper vacuum conditions annealing at 500 K leads to a homogeneous Pt₂Si film which reacts around 600 K completely to PtSi. A substantial oxygen partial pressure ( 0.1 mbar) in contrast results in an incomplete reaction in the same temperature range: unreacted platinum remains at the surface separated from the silicide by an oxygen enriched layer.Presented at the Seminar on Secondary Electrons in Electron Spectroscopy, Microscopy, and Microanalysis, Chlum (The Czech Republic), 21–24 September, 1993.This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through Sonderforschungsbereich 292.We thank Dr. W. Platz (Deutsche Aerospace AG, Ottobrunn) for providing us with Pt evaporated Si-wafers and Th. Hierl (Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg), who performed the RBS measurements for AES calibration.