The equilibrium hydrogen surface coverage on Si(100) during silicon epitaxy using SiH4 has been measured in a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition reactor. The hydrogen coverage could be ‘‘frozen out’’ completely on the surface by a rapid cool-down and pump-down of the reactor up to temperatures of ≂575 °C; at temperatures above 575 °C only partial ‘‘freeze-out’’ is achieved. Surface hydrogen was titrated in situ using the reactor as a thermal desorption spectrometer. Epitaxial silicon films were grown in the temperature range 450–700 °C and the film growth kinetics was correlated with the equilibrium hydrogen coverage. The growth mechanism changes from the low-temperature regime, where the surface is hydrogen covered, to the high-temperature regime, where the surface is essentially clean.
In this paper we review paramagnetic point defects in amorphous silicon nitride thin films. We will discuss two intrinsic paramagnetic defects: a trivalent silicon center, named the K‐center, and the recently observed nitrogen dangling‐bond center. We examine the structural identification, and the electronic properties of the K‐center, as well as consider why
normala‐SiNx:H
is generally a very effective charge trapping dielectric. In addition, this paper compares and contrasts special features of the structure and electronic role of the paramagnetic point defects in both silicon dioxide and silicon nitride thin films; this may provide insight for further studies on the physics and chemistry of these dangling‐bond centers in both materials.
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