Detailed structural analysis and dielectric properties of silicon nitride film fabricated using pure nitrogen plasma generated near atmospheric pressure

Hayakawa, Ryoma*; Nakae, Mari*; Yoshimura, Takeshi*; Ashida, Atsushi*; Fujimura, Norifumi*; Uehara, Tsuyoshi*; Tagawa, Masahito*; Teraoka, Yuden

Journal of Applied Physics, 100(7), p.073710_1 - 073710_8, 2006/10

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2353781

A structural analysis and dielectric property measurements of silicon nitride films fabricated using atmospheric pressure (AP) plasma were carried out, and the results were compared to a radio frequency (RF) plasma case. Using AP plasma, 1.8-nm-thick films composed of SiNO were obtained in the temperature range from 298 to 773 K. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry revealed 10% more nitrogen atoms corresponding to the NSi bond in the film using AP plasma than those using RF plasma. In the temperature range, the leakage current densities were not affected by the temperature. Films fabricated at 298 K showed leakage current density of as low as 710A/cm at 5MV/cm. This value was one order of magnitude lower than that using RF plasma.