1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device on a semiconductor layer, comprising the steps of: forming an oxide layer on the semiconductor layer; forming a silicon layer on the oxide layer, wherein the silicon layer is selected from the group consisting of intrinsic polysilicon, intrinsic silicon, doped silicon, and doped polysilicon; forming a diffusion barrier region in the silicon layer by introducing into the silicon layer at least one dopant selected from the group consisting of: (1) oxygen,and (2) nitrogen such that the dopant introduced into the diffusion barrier region has a concentration of approximately 1×10 18 to 5×10 21 atoms/cm 3 ; forming an implanted matrix in the diffusion barrier region, wherein the implanted matrix is implanted with an element selected from the group consisting of: a Group VIA element and a combination of Group VIA and VB elements; depositing titanium on the diffusion barrier region; and annealing to form C-54 titanium silicide.