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

Abstract

Silicon nitride (SiNx) and hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiNx:H) thin films enjoy widespread scientific interest across multiple application fields. Exceptional combination of optical, mechanical, and thermal properties allows for their utilization in several industries, from solar and semiconductor to coated glass production. The wide bandgap (~5.2 eV) of thin films allows for its optoelectronic application, while the SiNx layers could act as passivation antireflective layers or as a host matrix for silicon nano-inclusions (Si-ni) for solar cell devices. In addition, high water-impermeability of SiNx makes it a potential candidate for barrier layers of organic light emission diodes (OLEDs). This work presents a review of the state-of-the-art process techniques and applications of SiNx and SiNx:H thin films. We focus on the trends and latest achievements of various deposition processes of recent years. Historically, different kinds of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), such as plasma enhanced (PE-CVD) or hot wire (HW-CVD), as well as electron cyclotron resonance (ECR), are the most common deposition methods, while physical vapor deposition (PVD), which is primarily sputtering, is also widely used. Besides these fabrication methods, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an emerging technology due to the fact that it is able to control the deposition at the atomic level and provide extremely thin SiNx layers. The application of these three deposition methods is compared, while special attention is paid to the effect of the fabrication method on the properties of SiNx thin films, particularly the optical, mechanical, and thermal properties.

Ion Track Formation and Nanopore Etching in Polyimide: Possibilities in the MeV Ion Energy Regime

“…The monomer unit of Kapton (poly(4,4′oxydiphenylene) pyromellitimide) is shown in Figure 1. The films of area 4 × 4 cm 2 were irradiated at room temperature under normal incidence by 1 H, 12 C, 16 O, 28 Si, 59 Co, and 197 Au ions with energies ranging from 1.05 to 48 MeV and an initial charge state between 1+ and 11+. Beam current was measured before and after irradiation using a Faraday cup placed behind the sample position.…”

“…Nanopore detection and sequencing work on the principle of ionic current disruption or variation. Several insulating materials, for example, graphene, [6,10] silicon nitride, [11,12] silicon oxide, [13,14] and polymer membranes [7,[15][16][17] are being studied for nanoscale channel and pore fabrication. Although silicon-based nanopores allow improved miniaturization and possible integration with other electronic devices, the irregular shape of these pores leads to large current noises.…”

Amorphous silicon nitride deposited by an NH3-free plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method for the coatings of the next generation laser interferometer gravitational waves detector

“…aSiN films are generally known to show a high level of stress and the stress varies with different deposition conditions and methods [38]. Pan et al reported previously that there was a positive correlation between the stress of aSiN films and NH 3 /SiH 4 flow rate ratio in the NH 3 -PECVD process [19].…”

Surface study of RF magnetron sputtered silicon nitride thin films

“…Silicon nitride is the most widely used material as dielectric and passivation layer in microelectronics [1] and as structural material in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), due to its remarkable optical, chemical, and mechanical properties [2,3]. Silicon nitride thin films also play a vital role in optoelectronics applications due to its high refractive index and transparency in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) region [4,5]. A major application of silicon nitride thin film in the field of optoelectronics is optical waveguide-based biosensors as a planar optical waveguide [6][7][8].…”