Formation of Zr-disilicide by high-current Zr ion implantation into Si using metal vapor vacuum arc ion source

High-current Zr ion implantation technique was employed to synthesize Zr-silicide layers on Si wafers, using a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) ion source. The implantation was conducted under an extracted voltage of 45 kV, with various ion beam current densities from 25 to 127 μA/cm2 and to ion doses ranging from 8 x 1016 to 5 x 1017 ions/cm2. It was found that implantation with a current density of 76 μA/cm2 to a dose of 5 x 1017 ions/cm2 could directly synthesize an equilibrium C49-ZrSi2 layer on Si surface with neither external heating nor post-annealing and that the sheet resistance of the silicide layer so obtained was of 19 Ω/□, implying the layer was of good quality. The formation mechanism of the ZrSi2 phase was discussed in terms of the temperature rise and irradiation parameters in the process of implantation. (orig.)