Hydrogen loss and its improved retention in hydrogen plasma treated a-SiN :H films: ERDA study with 100 MeV Ag7+ ions

Abstract

Hydrogen loss from a-SiNx:H films under irradiation with 100 MeV Ag 7+ ions using elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) experiments is reported. The results are explained under the basic assumptions of the molecular recombination model. The ERDA hydrogen counts are composed of two distinct hydrogen desorption processes, limited by rapid molecular diffusion in the initial stages of irradiation, and as the fluence progresses a slow process limited by diffusion of atomic hydrogen takes over. Which of the aforesaid processes dominates, is determined by the continuously evolving Hydrogen concentration within the films. The ERDA measurements were also carried out for films treated with low temperature (300ºC) hydrogen plasma annealing (HPA). The HPA treated films show an improved diffusion of atomic hydrogen, resulting from healing of weak bonds and passivation of dangling bonds. Further, upon HPA, films also show evolution of hydrogen with significantly higher counts, at advanced fluences, relative to the as-deposited films. These results indicate the potential of HPA towards improved H retention in a-SiNx:H films. The study distinguishes clearly the presence of two diffusion processes in a-SiNx:H whose diffusion rates differ by an order of magnitude, with hydrogen radicals not being able to diffuse beyond ~1 nm from the point of their creation. The results are very relevant for the passivation applications of a-SiNx:H.

Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Plasmonic TiN Ultrathin Films Using TDMATi and NH3

“…In the very limited hydrogen content studies of the ALD-grown nitride, elemental profiling by elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) has been used. For example, Bommali et al [32] reported an increase in hydrogen content in α-SiN x :H films after a one-hour hydrogen plasma treatment from 8 ± 2 atoms/nm 3 to 14 ± 2 atoms/nm. We expect a similar increase in the hydrogen content of our films after the post-treatment.…”

Silicon Nitride and Hydrogenated Silicon Nitride Thin Films: A Review of Fabrication Methods and Applications

“…CVD is a widespread vacuum deposition method to prepare high quality thin films, where the desired film is created by the chemical reactions between precursor gases (raw materials) on the substrate surface. Many variants of CVD technology are known, of which the hot wire (HW-CVD) [ 21 ], expanded thermal plasma (ETP-CVD) [ 23 ], electron cyclotron resonance (ECR-CVD) [ 24 ], and plasma-enhanced (PE-CVD) [ 28 ] types are the most common for the deposition of SiNx and SiNx:H thin films. Figure 1 presents a schematic overview of a typical PE-CVD reactor.…”

“…Additionally, a common feature of PVD methods is that the material, which is initially typically in the solid phase, is transformed to the gas phase, after which the material then returns to a solid phase by creating a layer on the desired substrate. In the case of PVD techniques, sputtering is the method predominantly used, while for CVD technologies, several different processes, e.g., hot wire (HW-CVD) [ 21 , 22 ], expanded thermal plasma (ETP-CVD) [ 23 ], electron cyclotron resonance (ECR-CVD) [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], and both plasma enhanced (PE-CVD) [ 28 , 29 , 30 ] and remote plasma enhanced (RPE-CVD) [ 31 ], are applied for the deposition of silicon nitride thin films. Due to the demand for extraordinary thin SiNx layers with precisely controlled composition and layer properties, increasing scientific interest appeared for a subset of CVD, namely the atomic layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD) or atomic layer deposition (ALD).…”

Examination of the Hydrogen Incorporation into Radio Frequency-Sputtered Hydrogenated SiNx Thin Films

“…However, the molecular hydrogen migration requires a higher activation energy and low diffusivity [7]. The most common techniques for deposition of the silicon nitride films with or without hydrogen addition are different types of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), such as plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) [8,9], remote plasma-enhanced CVD (RPECVD) [10], electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) [11,12], hot-wire CVD (HWCVD) [13], and extended thermal plasma CVD (ETPCVD) [14]. CVD-deposited film always contains hydrogen but its amount cannot be directly controlled during the preparation process, only by several deposition parameters, such as the ratio of precursor gases or the substrate temperature [9,12].…”