Low Teperature Synthesis of Silicon Oxide and Oxynitride Films by Reactive Laser Ablation

ABSTRACTSilicon oxide and oxynitride films are deposited, at low temperature (≤ 450°C) by pulsed ArF excimer laser ablation from silicon, silicon monoxide, fused silica and silicon nitride targets, performed under vacuum and in oxygen atmosphere. We investigate in this paper the specific influence of laser fluence, target materials, substrate temtperature and oxygen pressure on the composition and final properties of SiOxNy grown layers. The synthesis of good quality SiO2 films is demonstratedx. By contrast, the preparation of stoichiometric Si7N4 layers by laser ablation has to be optimized.