FIB induced cobalt disilicide nanowire growth in silicon

In the present work FIB ion implantation of Co+ ions and subsequent anneaeling was applied to ion beam synthesis of CoSi2 nanowires with feature dimensions of about 20-50 nm in diameter and wire lengths of some µm. Using the CANION 31Mplus FIB column (Orsay Physics) a focusing of the Co++ ion beam down to a spot diameter of 30-50 nm was achieved. The ion energy was chosen to be 60 keV corresponding to a mean ion penetration depth of Rp = 33 nm. For the study of the conventional ion beam synthesis of CoSi2 nanowires (phase separation through precipitation and wire ripening during thermal treatment) and their decay into chains of nanoparticles due to nanowire instabilities the samples were implanted with high doses (1x1016-2x1017 cm-2) and at 420 °C sample temperature. Additionally, the scan direction of the FIB relative to the crystal directions was varied (normal FIB scan-direction was parallel to the [110]-direction on the Si surface). Small misalignment of the FIB trace relative to the [110] orientations leads to the decay of the CoSi2 nanowires into chains of more or less prolonged CoSi2 nanoparticles. Samples implanted at lower ion doses (1014-1016 cm-2) and at room temperature were used to investigate the influence of locally FIB induced irradiation defects on the CoSi2 nanowire growth. In this case, nanowires were again formed during thermal treatment by reacting of cobalt from a thin evaporated layer on the sample back side with defects induced by Co+ ion implantation with the FIB. The nanowires here are self-aligned along the in-plane [110] silicon crystal directions in (001)- and (111)-Si. In contrast to conventional ion beam synthesis of CoSi2 nanowires by high dose FIB implantation along a narrow trace defect-induced and self-aligned nanowire growth seems to be more stable.