Composition and Properties of PECVD Silicon Nitride Films Deposited from SiH4, N2, He Gases

1991 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Souk ◽  
G. N. Parsons ◽  
J. Batey
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Etch Rate ◽  
Charge Trapping ◽  
Film Stress ◽  
Bond Density ◽  
Silicon Nitride Films ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
Optical And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Wet Etch

ABSTRACTAmorphous silicon nitride films deposited from a gas mixture of SiH4 and N2 with a large flow of He have shown many interesting characteristics. The films show a wide variety of electrical, optical, and mechanical properties with varying amounts of SiH4 and N2. The effect of N2 flow rate on film composition in N2-SiH4 processes is quite different from that of NH3 flow in NH3-SiH4 processes. The films were characterized by measurements of (1) Si-H and N-H bond density and bonded hydrogen content, both from infrared absorption, (2) Si/N ratio, (3) refractive index, (4) film stress, and (5) wet chemical etch rate and (6) electrical properties including current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V). We find that adding helium to the PECVD process enhances the incorporation of nitrogen in the film and an optimized flow of SiH4 improves the electrical properties. Films with optimum electrical properties with minimum charge trapping are obtained with N/Si ratio close to 1.33. These films have a small amount of Si-H and N-H bonds, and a low etch rate (> 100 A/min) in aqueous HF solution. The properties of these low temperature (250°C) PECVD nitrides have many similarities with LPCVD nitrides. Compared with films deposited from SiH4, NH3 mixture, these films exhibit very low wet etch rates and much lower H contents, but greater hysteresis in C-V characteristics.

Correlation Between The Mechanical Stress And Microstructure In Reactive Bias Magnetron Sputtered Silicon Nitride Films

1997 ◽  
Vol 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joo Han Kim ◽  
Won Sang Lee ◽  
Ki Woong Chunga
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Mechanical Stress ◽  
Bias Voltage ◽  
Etch Rate ◽  
Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry ◽  
Substrate Bias ◽  
Substrate Bias Voltage ◽  
Silicon Nitride Films ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Bombardment Energy

ABSTRACTThe influence of ion bombardment on the mechanical stress and microstructure of sputtered silicon nitride (SiNx) films has been systematically investigated. Applied substrate bias voltage was used to control the bombardment energy in a radio frequency (rf) reactive magnetron sputtering system. The resultant films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), stress and chemical etch rate measurements. As the bias voltage was increased, the internal stress in SiNx films became increasingly compressive and reached a value of about 18.3 × 109 dyne/cm2 at higher bias voltages. These correlated well with the transition of the film microstructure from a porous microcolumnar structure containing large void to the more densely packed one. The obtained results can be explained in terms of atomic peening by energetic particles, leading to densification of the microstructure. It was also found that the amount of argon incorporated in the film is increased with increasing bias voltage, whereas the oxygen content is decreased. The lowest etch rate in buffered HF solution, approximately 1.2 Å/sec, was observed with the application of a substrate bias of -50 V.

Electrical properties of silicon nitride films plasma‐deposited from SiF4, N2, and H2 source gases

1985 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 426-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizuo Fujita ◽  
Toshiyuki Ohishi ◽  
Hideo Toyoshima ◽  
Akio Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Silicon Nitride Films

Optical and Electrical Properties of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Nitride Films Deposited in Various PECVD systems

1986 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Voke ◽  
Jerzy Kanicki
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Optical And Electrical Properties ◽  
Amorphous Silicon Nitride ◽  
Full Characterization ◽  
Silicon Nitride Films ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride films, prepared in various commercially available plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition systems, have been investigated in terms of different deposition conditions.The full characterization of these gate insulators has been carried out by different techniques.Experimental data and interesting findings obtained from this study are presented.Special attention has been devoted to the influence of hydrogen on optical and electrical properties.

Effect of the hydrogen content in the optical properties and etching of silicon nitride films deposited by PECVD for uncooled microbolometers

2005 ◽  
Vol 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ambrosio ◽  
A. Torres ◽  
A. Kosarev ◽  
M. Landa ◽  
A. Heredia
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Bonding ◽  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Hydrogen Content ◽  
Etch Rate ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Silicon Nitride Films ◽  
Pressure Chemical ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Deposited Films

AbstractWe have studied silicon nitride films a-SiN:H deposited at a substrate temperature of 350°C by means of the Low frequency (LF) PECVD from silane and nitrogen as stock gases. Film properties as hydrogen bonding and content, nitrogen content, refractive index and etch rate are reported and analyzed. Our deposited films show physical properties similar to those that are obtained deposition temperatures of 700°C by the low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) technique. An investigation of bonding structures for the deposited films was performed, and quantitative results for hydrogen bonding based on Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis are presented. It was observed that low hydrogen content in the films is in good correlation with low etch rate in 10% buffered HF solution, therefore these films present a material with good etch selectivity in respect to others materials (as phosphosilicate glass PSG, Al etc). Selectivity which makes these films very promising in surface micromachining for fabrication of sensors and device structures, e.g. microbolometers. Additionally, the Si-N bond at 830-840cm-1was analyzed because of its big absorption produced at 12μm; therefore these films can be used as absorber layers in uncooled microbolometres.

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