Platinum silicide precipitate formation during phosphorus diffusion gettering in silicon

Analytical, high-resolution and scanning transmission electron microscopy as well as secondary ion mass spectroscopy has been used to study phosphorus diffusion gettering of platinum in silicon at 1100 degreesC. These techniques consistently show that a thin layer of PtSi islands forms directly beneath the interface between the phosphorus silica glas and the silicon which accounts for about 50% of the gettered platinum atoms.