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Contact areas comprising doped semiconductor material at the bottom of contact holes are cleaned in a hot hydrogen plasma and exposed in situ during and/or separately from the hot hydrogen clean to a plasma containing the same dopant species as in the semiconductor material so as to partially, compl

Contact areas comprising doped semiconductor material at the bottom of contact holes are cleaned in a hot hydrogen plasma and exposed in situ during and/or separately from the hot hydrogen clean to a plasma containing the same dopant species as in the semiconductor material so as to partially, completely, or more than completely offset any loss of dopant due to the hot hydrogen clean. A protective conductive layer such as a metal silicide is then formed over the contact area in situ. The resulting integrated circuit has contacts with interfaces such as a silicide interfaces to contact areas having a particularly favorable dopant profile and concentration adjacent the silicide interfaces.

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1. An integrated circuit, comprising: a doped semiconductor contact area in contact with a contact layer, the dopant concentration in the contact area being substantially constant or decreasing as a function of a distance into the semiconductor contact area from the contact layer, wherein the con

1. An integrated circuit, comprising: a doped semiconductor contact area in contact with a contact layer, the dopant concentration in the contact area being substantially constant or decreasing as a function of a distance into the semiconductor contact area from the contact layer, wherein the contact layer comprises silicide and is situated in a contact hole having a doped sidewall defined by dopant atoms that reside within a diffusion boundary surrounding the contact hole. 2. An integrated circuit, comprising: a doped semiconductor area; a silicide contact layer situated on the doped semiconductor area and forming a contact junction with the doped semiconductor area; and a contact plug situated on the contact layer and in a contact hole having a doped sidewall defined by dopant atoms that reside within a diffusion boundary surrounding the contact hole, wherein the doped semiconductor area has a dopant concentration which is highest at the contact junction. 3. The integrated circuit of claim 2, wherein the dopant concentration decreases nonlinearly from the contact junction. 4. An integrated circuit comprising a doped semiconductor area adjacent to a silicide contact junction that comprises a contact plug situated in an opening having a doped sidewall defined by dopant residing within a diffusion boundary surrounding the opening, wherein the doped semiconductor area at the contact junction has an electrically active dopant concentration which is at least 60 percent of the total dopant present in the contact area and contacts the contact plug. 5. A processed substrate, comprising: a contact area situated on a semiconductor surface and containing a dopant at a concentration in the range of about 1018to 1020atoms per cubic centimeter and extending a distance of about 500 Angstroms or less from the semiconductor surface; and an insulating layer formed on the semiconductor surface, the insulating layer having a contact hole configured to expose at least a portion of the contact area; wherein the contact hole includes a doped sidewall associated with dopant that resides within a diffusion boundary surrounding the contact hole; and a silicide layer situated within the contact hole and contacting the contact area. 6. An integrated circuit comprising: a doped semiconductor contact area; a silicide contact layer situated on the contact area and forming a contact junction with the doped semiconductor contact area, wherein the contact area contains dopant atoms at a concentration in the range of about 1018to 1020atoms per cubic centimeter and extending a distance of about 500 Angstroms or less from the contact junction; and a contact plug situated on the contact layer and configured to fill a contact hole having a doped sidewall, wherein the doped sidewall is associated with dopant atoms that reside within a diffusion boundary surrounding the contact hole. 7. An integrated circuit according to claim 6 wherein the contact layer comprises silicide. 8. The integrated circuit of claim 6 wherein the dopant atoms comprise boron atoms. 9. The integrated circuit of claim 6 wherein the resistance of the contact is about 1000 Ω or less. 10. The integrated circuit of claim 6, wherein the dopant concentration in the contact area being substantially constant or decreasing as a function of a distance into the semiconductor contact area from the junction.