Silicon Nitride Films Prepared by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of SiH4/NH3/N2 Mixtures: Some Physical Properties

Ling, C.H.; Kwok, C. Y.; Prasad, K.

doi:10.1143/jjap.25.1490

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The ratio of H bonded to N over that bonded to Si ([N--H]/[Si--H]) increases with NH3/SiH4 (18) and with x (19). Refractive index decreases with increasing NHJSiH4 (17,20) and with increasing [N--H]/[Si--H] (21), and the optical bandgap increases with x (22). Etch rate in aqueous HF increases with NHJSiH4 (20) and with [N--H]/[Si--H] (21).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Refractive index decreases with increasing NHJSiH4 (17,20) and with increasing [N--H]/[Si--H] (21), and the optical bandgap increases with x (22). Etch rate in aqueous HF increases with NHJSiH4 (20) and with [N--H]/[Si--H] (21). The general trend is that increasing the NHjSiH4 ratio and the power lead to higher x and higher [N--H]/[Si--H], which results in lower refractive index and in higher bandgap and HF etch rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Smith

Alimonda

Chen

et al. 1990

J. Electrochem. Soc.

231

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The plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process for SiN=H~ films has been in use for over two decades, but the chemistry of the process has yet to be explained. In the Present work, the composition of a 13 MHz NH~-SiH4 parallel plate glow discharge plasma was analyzed by line-of-sight sampling from the film deposition plane into a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, which can resolve compositional ambiguities at a given mass number by utilizing collision-assisted secondary cracking. At low RF power, disilane was the main plasma product even when NHjSiH4 was 25/1, whereas at higher power (0.1 W/cm ~ of cross section) disilane was eliminated and tetra-aminosilane, Si(NH~)4, and the triaminosilane radical, Si(NH2)3, became dominant. The concentration of these aminosilanes closely tracked deposition rate, and they are believed to be the principal SiN=Hy film precursors. Films deposited with Si(NH2)~ maximized and disilane suppressed in the plasma were excess in N and contained no Si--H bonding, consistent with the precursor composition. Silane utilization was near unity. The composition and properties of films deposited under these "amino-saturated" plasma conditions were examined vs. substrate temperaiure, Ts. With increasing Ts, there occurred a densification, a loss of H and excess N in a 3/1 ratio, and an increase in tensile stress, suggesting surface and subsurface chemical condensation of the adsorbed precursors via 3Si(NH2)4 -~ Si3N4 + 8NH3 ~. Postdeposition flash desorption showed NH3, not H2, to be the main volatile product of condensation. These results demonstrate that plasma chemistry can be manipulated to control film properties in a predictable manner.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Smith

Alimonda

Chen

et al. 1990

J. Electrochem. Soc.

231

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show abstract

“…Szweda 9 showed that both conventional thermal annealing and flash-lamp annealing increase the refractive index and decrease the thickness of silicon nitride films. Ling et al 10 showed that increase in deposition temperature increases the density and refractive index and lowers the etch rate and hydrogen content of the film. However, no systematic study has been conducted to assess annealing-induced changes as a function of as-deposited refractive index and their impact on device performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of rapid thermal anneal on refractive index and hydrogen content of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride films

Cai

Rohatgi

Yang

et al. 1996

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…In the PECVD process, the deposition pressure is one of the most important parameters affecting the deposition rate [50]. High pressures result in shorter mean free paths, lower electron temperatures, and reduced dissociative reactions that require high threshold energy.…”

Section: Gas Pressure Dependenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional fluid simulation of inductively coupled N₂/NH₃/SiH₄ discharge

Cha¹,

Seo²,

Kim³

et al. 2021

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Low-temperature N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 discharge is used to deposit hydrogenated silicon nitride films (SiN x H y ). In this process, the main factor influencing the improvement of film quality is the active species, such as SiH x and NH x radicals, which are responsible for surface reactions. The change in plasma chemistry under different operating conditions affects the production of active species in the bulk plasma region. In the conventional N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 discharge for SiN x H y thin-film deposition, the information required to explain the correlation between the generation of active species and the process parameters was insufficient. In particular, it was difficult to completely understand the relationship between the generation of SiH x and NH x radicals using the experimental results based on the measured thin-film properties. Therefore, a numerical model was prepared to understand the mechanism of each radical. To improve the efficiency of material processing and enhance process controllability, an inductively coupled plasma N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 model was introduced and investigated. This work provides an overview of the generation of each active species in the N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 discharge. In particular, the effects of the gas pressure and N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 gas mixture ratio are discussed. Moreover, the principle of the N 2 /NH 3 /SiH 4 plasma process for the production of active species (N, NH x , SiH x , amino-silane complexes) was analyzed; it was found that the generation density of specific particles is affected by the spatial distribution of electrons based on the pressure and gas composition ratio.

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Silicon Nitride Films Prepared by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of SiH₄/NH₃/N₂ Mixtures: Some Physical Properties

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Effects of rapid thermal anneal on refractive index and hydrogen content of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride films

Two-dimensional fluid simulation of inductively coupled N₂/NH₃/SiH₄ discharge

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Silicon Nitride Films Prepared by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of SiH4/NH3/N2 Mixtures: Some Physical Properties

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Mechanism of SiN x H y Deposition from NH 3 ‐ SiH4 Plasma

Effects of rapid thermal anneal on refractive index and hydrogen content of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride films

Two-dimensional fluid simulation of inductively coupled N2/NH3/SiH4 discharge

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Silicon Nitride Films Prepared by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of SiH₄/NH₃/N₂ Mixtures: Some Physical Properties

Two-dimensional fluid simulation of inductively coupled N₂/NH₃/SiH₄ discharge