Polycide is a
silicide formed over
polysilicon
Polycrystalline silicon, or multicrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, poly-Si, or mc-Si, is a high purity, polycrystalline form of silicon, used as a raw material by the solar photovoltaic and electronics industry.
Polysilicon is produce ...
. Widely used in
DRAM
Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxi ...
s. In a polycide
MOSFET
The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a type of field-effect transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which d ...
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...
process, the silicide is formed only over the polysilicon film as formation occurs prior to any polysilicon etch. Polycide processes contrast with
salicide processes in which silicide is formed after the polysilicon etch. Thus, with a salicide process, silicide is formed over both the polysilicon gate and the exposed monocrystalline terminal regions of the transistor in a
self-aligned fashion.
{{Chemistry-stub
Semiconductor device fabrication
Silicon