Compositional study of silicon oxynitride thin films deposited using electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique

Journal Article · Sun May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1901665· OSTI ID:20637099

Baumann, H; Sah, R E ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Kernphysik, J.W. Goethe University, August-Euler-Strasse 6, 60486 Frankfurt (Germany)

We have used backscattering spectrometry and {sup 15}N({sup 1}H,{alpha},{gamma}){sup 12}C nuclear reaction analysis techniques to study in detail the variation in the composition of silicon oxynitride films with deposition parameters. The films were deposited using 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique from mixtures of precursors argon, nitrous oxide, and silane at deposition temperature 90 deg. C. The deposition pressure and nitrous oxide-to-silane gas flow rates ratio have been found to have a pronounced influence on the composition of the films. When the deposition pressure was varied for a given nitrous oxide-to-silane gas flow ratio, the amount of silicon and nitrogen increased with the deposition pressure, while the amount of oxygen decreased. For a given deposition pressure, the amount of incorporated nitrogen and hydrogen decreased while that of oxygen increased with increasing nitrous oxide-to-silane gas flow rates ratio. For nitrous oxide-to-silane gas flow ratio of 5, we obtained films which contained neither chemically bonded nor nonbonded nitrogen atoms as revealed by the results of infrared spectroscopy, backscattering spectrometry, and nuclear reaction analysis. Our results demonstrate the nitrogen-free nearly stoichiometric silicon dioxide films can be prepared from a mixture of precursors argon, nitrous oxide, and silane at low substrate temperature using high-density PECVD technique. This avoids the use of a hazardous and an often forbidden pair of silane and oxygen gases in a plasma reactor.

• OSTI ID: 20637099
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Vol. 23, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1116/1.1901665; (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0734-2101
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ARGON
CARBON 12
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
ELECTRON CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE
GAS FLOW
GHZ RANGE 01-100
HYDROGEN 1
INFRARED SPECTRA
NITROGEN
NITROGEN 15
NITROUS OXIDE
NUCLEAR REACTION ANALYSIS
ORGANIC SILICON COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN
PLASMA
RUTHERFORD BACKSCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY
SILANES
SILICON OXIDES
THIN FILMS