Characterization of thin oxide removal by rapid thermal annealing treatment

A rapid thermal annealing treatment technique was introduced to remove a thin native oxide on silicon substrates. The native oxide was not present at the silicide/silicon interface after the wafer was thermally treated by RTA at 800/spl deg/C for 60 seconds in an N/sub 2/ ambient. This SEM cross-sectional micrograph observation was supported by X-ray diffraction analysis. XRD showed no traceable presence of an oxide peak. Therefore, RTA heat treatment is shown to be a suitable alternative method to remove the native oxide.