Ni germanide (NiGe) is a promising alloy material with small contact resistance at the source/drain (S/D) of Ge MOSFETs. However, it is necessary to reduce the specific contact resistance between NiGe and the doped Ge S/D region in high-performance MOSFETs. In this study, a novel method is proposed to reduce the specific contact resistance between NiGe and p-type Ge (p-Ge) using a Tb interlayer. The specific contact resistance between NiGe and p-Ge was successfully decreased with the introduction of the Tb interlayer. To investigate the mechanism behind the reduction in the specific contact resistance, the elemental distribution and crystalline structure of NiGe were analyzed using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. It is likely that the reduction in specific contact resistance was caused by an increase in the concentration of boron in the space between NiGe and p-Ge due to the influence of the Tb interlayer.
