Self-aligned dual-metal silicide and germanide formation

1. A method comprising:

growing an epitaxy semiconductor region at a major surface of a wafer, wherein the epitaxy semiconductor region comprises an upward facing facet facing upwardly and a downward facing facet facing downwardly;

forming a first metal silicide layer contacting the upward facing facet; and

forming a second metal silicide layer contacting the downward facing facet, wherein the first metal silicide layer and the second metal silicide layer comprise different metals.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming a metal nitride layer comprising:

a first portion over the upward facing facet, wherein the first metal silicide layer is between the first portion of the metal nitride layer and the upward facing facet; and

a second portion on the downward facing facet, wherein the second metal silicide layer is between the second portion of the metal nitride layer and the downward facing facet.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein after the forming the first metal silicide layer and the forming the second metal silicide layer, a metal layer resides between, and is in physical contact with, the first metal silicide layer and the first portion of the metal nitride layer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the first metal silicide layer and the forming the second metal silicide layer comprise:

depositing a first metal layer contacting the upward facing facet using a non-conformal deposition method;

depositing a second metal layer comprising a first portion over and contacting the first metal layer, and a second portion contacting the downward facing facet, wherein the forming the second metal layer is performed using a conformal deposition method; and

performing an annealing to react the first metal layer with the upward facing facet to form the first metal silicide layer, wherein the second metal silicide layer is formed simultaneously by the annealing, with the second metal silicide layer formed from the second metal layer reacted with the downward facing facet.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein no silicidation of the epitaxy semiconductor region is performed between the forming the first metal silicide layer and the forming the second metal silicide layer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the epitaxy semiconductor region comprises:

epitaxially growing a germanium-containing semiconductor region having a first germanium percentage; and

epitaxially growing a silicon germanium layer on an upward facing facet and a downward facing facet of the germanium-containing semiconductor region, wherein the silicon germanium layer has a second germanium percentage lower than the first germanium percentage of the germanium-containing semiconductor region, and wherein an upward facing facet and a downward facing facet of the silicon germanium layer form the upward facing facet and the downward facing facet of the epitaxy semiconductor region, respectively.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the forming the first metal silicide layer and the forming the second metal silicide layer comprise:

depositing a first metal layer contacting the upward facing facet using a non-conformal deposition method;

performing a first annealing to react the first metal layer with the upward facing facet of the silicon germanium layer to form the first metal silicide layer;

depositing a second metal layer contacting the downward facing facet of the silicon germanium layer, wherein the second metal layer extends over the first metal silicide layer; and

performing a second annealing to react the second metal layer with the downward facing facet of the silicon germanium layer to form the second metal silicide layer.

8. A method comprising:

growing an epitaxy semiconductor region at a major surface of a wafer, wherein the epitaxy semiconductor region comprises an upward facing facet facing upwardly and a downward facing facet facing downwardly, and wherein the upward facing facet and the downward facing facet are neither parallel nor perpendicular to the major surface of the wafer;

forming a first metal layer contacting the upward facing facet;

forming a second metal layer comprising a first portion contacting the downward facing facet, wherein the second metal layer comprises a second portion over and contacting the first metal layer, wherein the first metal layer and the second metal layer comprise different metals; and

performing an annealing, wherein the first metal layer reacts with the upward facing facet to form a first metal silicide layer, and simultaneously, the second metal layer reacts with the downward facing facet to form a second metal silicide layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the epitaxy semiconductor region forms a source/drain region of a Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET).

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein no silicidation is performed between the forming the first metal layer and the forming the second metal layer.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the forming the second metal layer comprises forming a metal sub-layer and forming a metal nitride sub-layer over the metal sub-layer, wherein the metal sub-layer reacts with the downward facing facet during the annealing, and wherein the metal nitride sub-layer remains after the annealing.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein after the annealing, the metal sub-layer on the upward facing facet remains un-reacted with the upward facing facet.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the epitaxy semiconductor region comprises germanium, and wherein the forming the first metal layer comprises a deposition using a non-conformal deposition method, and wherein the forming the second metal layer comprises a deposition using a conformal deposition method.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

forming a semiconductor fin at a surface of the wafer;

forming a gate electrode covering a middle portion of the semiconductor fin;

etching end portions of the semiconductor fin to form recesses in Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) regions at the surface of the wafer; and

epitaxially growing the epitaxy semiconductor region in the recesses.

15. A method comprising:

forming a source/drain region of a Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET), wherein the source/drain region comprises an upward facing facet facing upwardly and a downward facing facet facing downwardly;

forming a first metal layer contacting the upward facing facet;

forming a second metal layer contacting the downward facing facet, wherein the first metal layer and the second metal layer comprise different metals; and

performing an annealing, wherein the first metal layer reacts with the upward facing facet to form a first metal silicide layer, and the second metal layer reacts with the downward facing facet to form a second metal silicide layer.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second metal layer further comprises an additional portion over and contacting the first metal layer, with the additional portion being on the upward facing facet.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein no silicidation is performed between the forming the first metal layer and the forming the second metal layer.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the forming the second metal layer comprises forming a metal sub-layer and forming a metal nitride sub-layer over the metal sub-layer, wherein the metal sub-layer reacts with the source/drain region during the annealing, and the metal nitride sub-layer remains after the annealing.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein after the annealing, a portion of the metal sub-layer on the upward facing facet remains un-reacted with the source/drain region.

20. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

forming a contact plug electrically coupled to the first silicide layer and the second silicide layer.