H. Ouacha et al., Comparison between the noise properties of PtSi/p-Si1-xGex and Pt/p-Si1-xGe Schottky contacts prepared by co-sputtering and thermal reaction, SEMIC SCI T, 16(4), 2001, pp. 255-259
The noise properties of Pt/p-Si1-xGex and PtSi/p-Si1-xGex (x = 0.14) Schott
ky contacts have been studied. The silicide layer PtSi was formed by therma
l reaction (TR) of Pt with a silicon substrate and by co-sputtering (CS) of
Pt and Si onto the strained Si1-xGex layer. The noise measurements were pe
rformed at temperature T = 77 K over the frequency range 10-10(4) Hz, Highe
r noise level was observed in the annealed diode Pt/p-Si1-xGex. In both dio
des, the noise was found to exhibit l/f behaviour and was attributed to flu
ctuations of the generation-recombination current at the interface states.
The results reveal significant reductions in the total noise by 70%, and th
e interface state density Ni, by three orders of magnitude when the silicid
e is formed by the CS process.