Embodiments herein provide methods for forming an aluminum contact on a cobalt silicide junction. In one embodiment, a method for forming materials on a substrate is provided which includes forming a cobalt silicide layer on a silicon-containing surface of the substrate during a silicidation process, forming a fluorinated sublimation film on the cobalt silicide layer during a plasma process, heating the substrate to a sublimation temperature to remove the fluorinated sublimation film, depositing a titanium-containing nucleation layer over the cobalt silicide layer, and depositing an aluminum-containing material over the titanium-containing nucleation layer. In one example, the method further provides forming the cobalt silicide layer by depositing a cobalt-containing layer on the silicon-containing surface, heating the substrate during a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process, etching away any remaining portions of the cobalt-containing layer from the substrate, and subsequently heating the substrate during another RTA process.