Atmospheric-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of a-SiCN:H films: Role of precursors on the film growth and properties

Guruvenket, Srinivasan; Andrie, Steven; Simon, Mark; Johnson, Kyle W.; Sailer, Robert A.

doi:10.1021/am301157p

Title: Atmospheric-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of a-SiCN:H films: Role of precursors on the film growth and properties

Journal Article · Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/am301157p· OSTI ID:1053814

Guruvenket, Srinivasan ^[1]; Andrie, Steven ^[1]; Simon, Mark ^[1]; Johnson, Kyle W. ^[1]; Sailer, Robert A. ^[1]

North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND (United States)

Atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (AP-PECVD) using Surfx Atomflow^TM 250D APPJ was utilized to synthesize amorphous silicon carbonitride coatings using tetramethyldisilizane (TMDZ) and hexamethyldisilizane (HMDZ) as the single source precursors. The effect of precursor chemistry and the substrate temperature (T_s) on the properties of a-SiCN:H films were evaluated, while nitrogen was used as the reactive gas. Surface morphology of the films was evaluated using atomic force microscopy (AFM); chemical properties were determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); thickness and optical properties were determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry and mechanical properties were determined using nano-indentation. In general films deposited at substrate temperature (T_s) <200 °C contained organic moieties, while the films deposited at T_s >200 oC depicted strong Si-N and Si-CN absorption. Refractive indices (n) of the thin films showed values between 1.5 -2.0 depending on the deposition parameters. Mechanical properties of the films determined using nano-indentation revealed that these films have hardness between 0.5 GPa to 15 GPa depending on the Ts. AFM evaluation of the films showed high roughness (R_a) values of 2-3 nm for the films grown at low T_s (< 250 °C), while the films grown at T_s ≥ 300 °C exhibited atomically smooth surface with R_a of ~ 0.5 nm. Furthermore, based on the gas phase (plasma) chemistry, precursor chemistry and the other experimental observations, a possible growth model that prevails in the AP-PECVD of a-SiCN:H thin films is proposed.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG36-08GO88160

OSTI ID:: 1053814

Report Number(s):: DOE/GO/88160-48

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 4, Issue 10; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 38 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (32)

Fluorination of polymethylmethaacrylate with tetrafluoroethane using DC glow discharge plasma Guruvenket, S.; Iyer, Ganjigunte R. S.; Shestakova, Larisa Applied Surface Science, Vol. 254, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2008.03.045	journal	July 2008
Structural, mechanical, tribological, and corrosion properties of a-SiC:H coatings prepared by PECVD Guruvenket, S.; Azzi, M.; Li, D. Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 204, Issue 21-22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2010.03.031	journal	August 2010
Introduction to Surface Engineering and Functionally Engineered Materials Martin, Peter M. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118171899	journal	August 2011
Status and potential of atmospheric plasma processing of materials Pappas, Daphne Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 29, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.3559547	journal	March 2011
Use of atmospheric pressure plasma to confer durable water repellent functionality and antimicrobial functionality on cotton/polyester blend Davis, Rachel; El-Shafei, Ahmed; Hauser, Peter Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 205, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2011.04.035	journal	July 2011
Surface chemistry of atmospheric plasma modified polycarbonate substrates Yaghoubi, Houman; Taghavinia, Nima Applied Surface Science, Vol. 257, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.06.034	journal	September 2011
Trends in surface engineering of biomaterials: atmospheric pressure plasma deposition of coatings for biomedical applications Da Ponte, G.; Sardella, E.; Fanelli, F. The European Physical Journal Applied Physics, Vol. 56, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2011110192	journal	October 2011
Remote plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition of silicon nitride at atmospheric pressure Nowling, G. R.; Babayan, S. E.; Jankovic, V. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-0252/11/1/312	journal	February 2002
A Physicist's Perspective on “Views on Macroscopic Kinetics of Plasma Polymerisation” von Keudell, Achim; Benedikt, Jan Plasma Processes and Polymers, Vol. 7, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.201000011	journal	May 2010
Deposition of transparent conductive indium oxide by atmospheric-pressure plasma jet Sailer, Robert A.; Wagner, Andrew; Schmit, Chris Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 203, Issue 5-7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2008.06.053	journal	December 2008
Cold atmospheric plasma: Sources, processes, and applications Bárdos, L.; Baránková, H. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 518, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2010.07.044	journal	September 2010
Silicon nitride passivated bifacial Cz-silicon solar cells Janßen, L.; Windgassen, H.; Bätzner, D. L. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 93, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2009.03.015	journal	August 2009
Characterization of bias magnetron-sputtered silicon nitride films Guruvenket, S.; Ghatak, Jay; Satyam, P. V. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 478, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2004.10.031	journal	May 2005
The Study of Silane-Free SiC[sub x]N[sub y] Film for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells Kang, M. H.; Kim, D. S.; Ebong, A. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 156, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3116225	journal	January 2009
Silicon Carbonitride (SiCN) Films by Remote Hydrogen Microwave Plasma CVD from Tris(dimethylamino)silane as Novel Single-Source Precursor Wrobel, Aleksander M.; Blaszczyk-Lezak, Iwona; Uznanski, Pawel Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 16, Issue 7-9 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.201004287	journal	August 2010
Properties of Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbide (a-SiC:H) Films Formed by Remote Hydrogen Microwave Plasma CVD From a Triethylsilane Precursor: Part 2 Walkiewicz-Pietrzykowska, Agnieszka; Wrobel, Aleksander M.; Glebocki, Bartosz Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 15, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.200806727	journal	March 2009
Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbide (a-SiC:H) Coatings Produced by Remote Hydrogen Microwave Plasma CVD from Bis(dimethylsilyl)ethane - a Novel Single-Source Precursor Wróbel, Aleksander M.; Walkiewicz-Pietrzykowska, Agnieszka; Uznanski, Pawel Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 17, Issue 7-9 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.201104302	journal	August 2011
Linear Extended ArcJet-CVD - a New PECVD Approach for Continuous Wide Area Coating Under Atmospheric Pressure Hopfe, V.; Rogler, D.; Maeder, G. Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 11, Issue 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.200406343	journal	December 2005
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma CVD of Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbonitride (a-SiCN:H) Films Using Triethylsilane and Nitrogen Guruvenket, Srinivasan; Andrie, Steven; Simon, Mark Plasma Processes and Polymers, Vol. 8, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.201100035	journal	October 2011
Atmospheric Plasma Deposition of Coatings Using a Capacitive Discharge Source Moravej, M.; Hicks, R. F. Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 11, Issue 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.200400022	journal	December 2005
An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments Oliver, W. C.; Pharr, G. M. Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 7, Issue 06, p. 1564-1583 https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1992.1564	journal	June 1992
Structural and mechanical properties of amorphous silicon carbonitride films prepared by vapor-transport chemical vapor deposition Awad, Y.; El Khakani, M. A.; Aktik, C. Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 204, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2009.08.032	journal	November 2009
PECVD of Low Carbon Content Silicon Nitride-Like Thin Films with Dimethylaminosilanes Di Mundo, Rosa; Ricci, Marina; d'Agostino, Riccardo Plasma Processes and Polymers, Vol. 4, Issue S1 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.200730203	journal	April 2007
Growth Mechanism and Chemical Structure of Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbide (a-SiC:H) Films Formed by Remote Hydrogen Microwave Plasma CVD From a Triethylsilane Precursor: Part 1 Wrobel, Aleksander M.; Walkiewicz-Pietrzykowska, Agnieszka; Ahola, Marja Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 15, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.200806726	journal	March 2009
Remote hydrogen–nitrogen plasma chemical vapor deposition from a tetramethyldisilazane source. Part 1. Mechanism of the process, structure and surface morphology of deposited amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbonitride filmsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: deconvoluted emission and IR spectra of a-Si–N–C–H films. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/jm/b2/b211415c/ Wróbel, A. M.; Błaszczyk, I.; Walkiewicz-Pietrzykowska, A. Journal of Materials Chemistry, Vol. 13, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/b211415c	journal	February 2003
Interface engineering during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of porous/dense SiN1.3 optical multilayers Amassian, A.; Vernhes, R.; Klemberg-Sapieha, J. E. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 469-470 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2004.07.072	journal	December 2004
Preparation of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Carbon Nitride Films by Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition Using Hexamethyldisilazane for Silicon Solar Cell Applications Limmanee, Amornrat; Otsubo, Michio; Sato, Takehiko Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 46, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1143/JJAP.46.56	journal	January 2007
Effect of deposition conditions on mechanical properties of low-temperature PECVD silicon nitride films Huang, H.; Winchester, K. J.; Suvorova, A. Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 435-436 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2006.07.015	journal	November 2006
Effect of Substrate Temperature on the Plasma Polymerization of Poly(methyl methacrylate) Casserly, T. B.; Gleason, K. K. Chemical Vapor Deposition, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/cvde.200506409	journal	January 2006
A chemical adsorption growth model for hot filament chemical vapor deposition diamond Sun, Jianwei; Zhang, Yafei; He, Deyan Diamond and Related Materials, Vol. 9, Issue 9-10 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-9635(00)00315-0	journal	September 2000
The investigation of properties of silicon nitride films obtained by RPECVD from hexamethyldisilazane Fainer, N. I.; Rumyantsev, Yu. M.; Kosinova, M. L. Applied Surface Science, Vol. 113-114 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(96)00825-2	journal	April 1997
Single source precursors for plasma-enhanced CVD of SiCN films, investigated by mass spectrometry Stelzner, Th.; Arold, M.; Falk, F. Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 200, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2005.02.077	journal	October 2005

Cited By (3)

Chemical structure and optical properties of a-SiNC coatings synthesized from different disilazane precursors with the RF plasma enhanced CVD technique — a comparative study Sobczyk-Guzenda, Anna; Oleśko, Katarzyna; Gazicki-Lipman, Maciej Materials Research Express, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aae4f9	journal	October 2018
Plasma CVD/etching of Poly(methyl methacrylate) surface: optical and structural characterizations Saloum, S.; Shaker, S. A.; Hussin, R. Materials Research Express, Vol. 6, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab42b1	journal	September 2019
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polymerization of Super-Hydrophobic Nano-films Using Hexamethyldisilazane Monomer Huang, Chun; Lin, Hsin-Hua; Li, Chun Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, Vol. 35, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-015-9645-6	journal	August 2015

Similar Records

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma CVD of Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon Carbonitride (a-SiCN:H) Films Using Triethylsilane and Nitrogen

Journal Article · Tue Oct 04 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Plasma Processes and Polymers · OSTI ID:1053814

Guruvenket, Srinivasan; Andrie, Steven; Simon, Mark; +2 more

Low temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of thin films combining mechanical stiffness, electrical insulation, and homogeneity in microcavities

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1053814

Peter, S; Guenther, M; Hauschild, D; +1 more

Investigation of Nano-Mechanical and- Tribological Properties of Hydrogenated Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) Coatings

Journal Article · Fri Oct 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Mechanics · OSTI ID:1053814

Jeng, Y. -R.; Islam, S.; Wu, K-T.; +2 more

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
atmospheric pressure plasma
anti-reflective coatings
thin film growth model
tetramethyldisilizane (TMDZ)
hexamethyldisilizane (HMDZ) and triethylsilane (TES)

Title: Atmospheric-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of a-SiCN:H films: Role of precursors on the film growth and properties

Citation Formats

References (32)

Cited By (3)

Similar Records

Related Subjects