  In this study, the characteristics of nickel thin film deposited by remote
plasma atomic layer deposition (RPALD) on p-type Si substrate and formation of
nickel silicide using rapid thermal annealing were determined.
Bis(1,4-di-isopropyl-1,3-diazabutadienyl)nickel, Ni(iPr-DAD)2, was used as a Ni
precursor and ammonia plasma was used as a reactant. This was the first attempt
to deposit Ni thin film using Ni(iPr-DAD)2 as a precursor for the ALD process.
The RPALD Ni film was deposited with a growth rate of around 2.2{\AA}/cycle at
250 {\deg}C and showed significant low resistivity of 33 {\mu}{\Omega}cm with a
total impurity concentration of around 10 at. %.The impurities of the thin
film, carbon and nitrogen, were existent by the forms of C-C and C-N in a
bonding state. The impurities removal tendency was investigated by comparing of
experimental conditions, namely process temperature and pressure. Nitrogen
impurity was removed by thermal desorption during each ALD cycle and carbon
impurity was reduced by the optimizing of the process pressure which is
directly related with a mean free path of NH3 plasma. After Ni deposition,
nickel silicide was formed by RTA in a vacuum ambient for 1 minute. A nickel
silicide layer from ALD Ni and PVD Ni was compared at the annealing temperature
from 500 to 900 {\deg}C. NiSi from ALD Ni showed better thermal stability due
to the contribution of small amounts of carbon and nitrogen in the asdeposited
Ni thin film. Degradation of the silicide layer was effectively suppressed with
a use of ALD Ni.
