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Properties Of Silicon Nitride Thin Films Deposited By R.F Magnetron Sputtering

Posted on:2011-02-12Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:F GaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:2131330332981187Subject:Building materials and engineering
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The remarkable properties of silicon nitride films, such as extreme hardness, high thermal stability, chemical inertness and good insulating properties make them valuable materials used as oxidation masks, protection and passivation barrier layers, gate dielectrics, etch stop layer and interlevel insulators.All of the SiNx films were prepared in a reactive r.f. magnetron sputtering system. The water-cooled target was a silicon disc (99.99% in purity), Slide was used as the substrates. Gases of high-purity Ar and N2 (99.9995 and 99.999%, respectively) were admitted to the sputtering chamber via two separate mass flow controllers. The properties of the films were characterized by several means. XRD (PHILIPS PANalytica X'Pert PRO MRD) was used to identify the possible phases present in the films. SEM (JOEL JSM-5610LV) was used to investigate the film topography. The optical characteristics of films were studied by transmission ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis:SHIMADZU UV-3600) spectroscopy. The refractive index of films was simulated by nkd-system spectrophotometer (AQUILA NKD-7000W). The compositional properties of the films were characterized by EDS (HITACHI S-4800). The results are shown as following:1 With the different r.f. power, the samples all are amorphous, only have some broad peaks in the XRD patterns. Both the transmission and the optical energy band gaps of the films decrease as the power increased from 80W-160W, while the refractive index increase. The higher power the grains are larger, and there are more defects in the films, the films are less compact. When the power rises to 160W, there are obvious cracks.2 When the substrate temperature changes from 25 to 300℃, all the samples are amorphous. The deposition rate of the films decreases with increasing substrate temperature. And the high substrate temperature leads to more compact films, resulting in the defect in the films decreasing.3 The deposition rate of the films decreases with increasing the N2 flow rate. When the N2 flow rate is 0.5sccm, the quality of the film is not very good, with lots of cavities. While the flow rate is above 1.0sccm, the film is more compact and has fewer defects.4 The deposition time has little effect on the structure, deposition rate and optical properties of the films. With a long deposition, the islands getting together, the films are less compact and have more defects.
Keywords/Search Tags:r.f. magnetron sputtering, Silicon Nitride Thin Films, deposition rate, Optical properties
PDF Full Text Request
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