A contact level via and a method of performing selective deposition of a barrier layer to form a contact level via for selective aluminum metallization. Specifically, the method forms a self-aligned silicide region by depositing titanium atop a structure containing a contact level via, converting the titanium in the contact regions into titanium silicide, removing the unreacted titanium, and performing nitridation of the titanium silicide to complete a barrier layer located in only the contact region of the via. Once the barrier layer is formed, the layer can be optionally fortified through oxygen stuffing to create an effective barrier layer for aluminum metallization.