Improved Ni/3C-SiC contacts by effective contact area and conductivity increases at the nanoscale

We report on the evolution of the electrical and structural properties of Ni/3C-SiC contacts during annealing in the temperature range of 600-950 degrees C. A structural analysis showed the formation of different nickel silicide phases upon annealing. A combination of transmission line model and conductive atomic force microscopy measurements demonstrated a correlation between the macroscale specific contact resistance and the nanoscale resistance, measured locally across the sample. These results further revealed that the structural evolution is accompanied by an increased uniformity of the local current distribution, indicating that an increase of the effective contact area contributes to the improvement of the contact properties.