Patent attributes
A method of producing an ohmic contact and a resulting ohmic contact structure are disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming a deposited film of nickel and silicon on a silicon carbide surface at a temperature below which either element will react with silicon carbide and in respective proportions so that the atomic fraction of silicon in the deposited film is greater than the atomic fraction of nickel, and heating the deposited film of nickel and silicon to a temperature at which nickel-silicon compounds will form with an atomic fraction of silicon greater than the atomic fraction of nickel but below the temperature at which either element will react with silicon carbide. The method can further include the step of annealing the nickel-silicon compound to a temperature higher than the heating temperature for the deposited film, and within a region of the phase diagram at which free carbon does not exist.
