Growth and characterization of thin SiN films grown on Si by electron cyclotron resonance nitrogen plasma treatment

Moon, Jong; Ito, Toshimichi; Hiraki, Akio

doi:10.1016/0040-6090(93)90414-k

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Carbon and oxygen signals were expected from surface contamination and unavoidable natural oxidation. 11,12 It is well known that amorphous nitride films are usually not chemically stoichiometric and tend to be N-rich 13 or Si-rich. 14 Figure 5 shows the effect of working pressure on Si/N ratio.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Low-Stress SiN[sub x]H[sub y] Membranes Deposited by PECVD

Chen

Liao²,

Lee

et al. 2007

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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SiN x films deposited on silicon in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition ͑PECVD͒ reactor from a mixture gas of SiH 4 and NH 3 are investigated as an alternative method for low-stress membrane fabrication. We verified that the stress in the silicon nitride films decreased as a function of deposition pressure. A low tensile stress in the film of 170 MPa was obtained at a pressure of 750 mTorr and the refractive index of the film was 1.8. After KOH wet etching from the back side of the silicon substrate, a flat square ͑5 ϫ 5 mm͒ membrane with thickness of 500 nm could be successfully fabricated. The chemical composition of the film was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, with lower deposition pressures producing less Si-H bonding.Silicon nitride ͑SiN x ͒ has a wide range of applications in the microelectronic technology, including as an insulator and passivation layer on Si 1 and as a masking material for KOH etching. 2 Silicon nitride has been used in bulk micromachining, as its mechanical strength allows the fabrication of large membranes. 3 In surface micromachining, silicon nitride has been applied to devices such as interferometers, 4 where both the mechanical and the optical properties of the material are important. Most of these applications need membranes with a flat surface. This can be achieved by controlling the initial mechanical stress in films of silicon nitride, which must be tensile, but with a value sufficiently low to avoid membrane cracking after silicon substrate etching. Silicon nitride is the most common dielectric membrane material because it can be deposited with a low tensile stress by various methods and it has a very low etch rate in silicon wet anisotropic etchants. 5 The low stress state is often achieved by using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition ͑LPCVD͒ ͑Ͼ750°C͒ silicon-rich nitride films. 6,7 Low-temperature fabrication ͑Ͻ300°C͒ has many advantages over traditional, higher temperature ͑Ͼ750°C͒ deposition because a wider range of applications is made possible. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition ͑PECVD͒ is a common method of low-temperature fabrication of these films ͑Ͻ300°C͒. In this work, we succeeded in fabricating low-stress ͑Ͻ300 MPa͒ silicon nitride PECVD films, enabling realization of freestanding 5 ϫ 5 mm membranes. ExperimentalSiN x films were deposited in a radio frequency ͑rf, 13.56 MHz͒ PECVD parallel-plate reactor ͑Unaxis-Nextral D200͒ from a mixture of SiH 4 ͑20%͒, NH 3 , N 2 , and He. Those parameters which affect the stress of silicon nitride film are rf power, working pressure, flow ratio of SiH 4 /NH 3 , and temperature. In our experiments, the rf power was varied from 50 to 200 W. The ratio of silane ͑20%͒ to ammonia was varied from 0.125 to 0.625. The working pressure was varied from 600 to 800 mTorr, and the deposition temperature was varied from 160 to 280°C.Square membranes were fabricated. First the silicon nitride membrane was deposited on both sides of a cleaned p-type Si͗100͘ wafer. Squar...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Low-Stress SiN[sub x]H[sub y] Membranes Deposited by PECVD

Chen

Liao²,

Lee

et al. 2007

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…Usually, the silicon nitride films are deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition [6,7] or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition [8,9] at temperatures higher than 600°C and 250°C, respectively [2,9]. However, due to the high temperatures, these processes may be incompatible with other fabrication steps.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon nitride thin films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for micromechanical system applications

et al. 2008

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“…1 Nevertheless, some reports reveal the oxygen contamination of the films as an inevitable problem associated with this method, [2][3][4] with few studies devoted to clarify the oxygen source. 1 Nevertheless, some reports reveal the oxygen contamination of the films as an inevitable problem associated with this method, [2][3][4] with few studies devoted to clarify the oxygen source.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Nevertheless, some reports reveal the oxygen contamination of the films as an inevitable problem associated with this method, [2][3][4] with few studies devoted to clarify the oxygen source. 4 A careful study about the problems caused by unwanted sputtering in ECR systems in plasma features has been published by Gorbatkin and Berry. 3 Others, however, attribute it to reactor wall sputtering, with no emphasis about the cause of this phenomenon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the oxygen contamination present in SiNx films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance

García

Martin

Fernández

et al. 1995

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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Articles you may be interested inEffect of unintentionally introduced oxygen on the electron-cyclotron resonance chemical-vapor deposition of SiN X films Role of oxygen in the electron cyclotron resonance plasmaassisted chemical vapor deposition of diamond films Silicon nitride ͑SiN x :H͒ films are deposited by the electron cyclotron resonance method at different microwave powers and nitrogen to silane gas flow ratio ͑R͒. Auger electron spectroscopy ͑AES͒, infrared ͑IR͒ absorption, and refractive index ͑n͒ measurements are used to determine deposition conditions resulting in oxygen contamination of the films as well as those conditions that result in good quality films without oxygen incorporation. Oxygen contamination of the films is produced at high microwave powers and R ratios as shown by the oxygen content determined by AES and different features in the IR spectra: the shift to higher frequencies for the positions of the Si-N and Si-H peaks, the presence of the N-H bending mode, and the broadening of the Si-N peak with its frequency. Low n values confirm the oxygen incorporation into the films, as they decrease when the oxygen content increases. The characteristic dependence of the oxygen presence in the films with the deposition conditions indicate that the oxygen source is the sputtering of the quartz liner located inside the plasma source.

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Growth and characterization of thin SiN films grown on Si by electron cyclotron resonance nitrogen plasma treatment

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

Fabrication of Low-Stress SiN[sub x]H[sub y] Membranes Deposited by PECVD

Fabrication of Low-Stress SiN[sub x]H[sub y] Membranes Deposited by PECVD

Silicon nitride thin films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for micromechanical system applications

Analysis of the oxygen contamination present in SiNx films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance

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