Investigation of titanium silicide formation in Ti+Si reactions using infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction

Infrared (IR)-absorbance spectroscopy was investigated as a technique for monitoring titanium silicide formation during the reaction of Ti films on (100) Si substrates. Films annealed to various stages of reaction were monitored by x-ray diffraction, film resistivity, and optical reflectance in order to relate the changes in the IR-absorbance spectra to reaction progress. Films at different stages of reaction showed distinctly different extinction coefficients α, and absorbance versus wave-number curves. IR absorbance was determined to be a useful indicator of reaction progress, especially in those cases where samples at different stages of the silicidation reaction have the same resistance but different absorbance behaviors. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.