AVS 51st International Symposium
    Thin Films Monday Sessions
       Session TF-MoP

Paper TF-MoP32
Thin Film Deposition of SiO@sub 2@ Using Electron-Beam Generated Plasmas

Monday, November 15, 2004, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall B

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: D. Leonhardt, Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: D. Leonhardt, Naval Research Laboratory
S.G. Walton, Naval Research Laboratory
C. Muratore, ASEE/NRL Research Fellow
R.A. Meger, Naval Research Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
The deposition of thin films of SiO@sub 2@ is an integral part of silicon and organic based electronics for flexible, large area applications such as flat panel displays, phased radar arrays and architectural lighting. The SiO@sub 2@ layer is the primary (high-k) dielectric of the device and must be uniform and defect free over large areas. Typical plasma-based deposition technologies that are presently used have limitations in both the quality of material being deposited and the uniformity over large (square meter) areas. NRL has been using electron beam-generated plasmas for a wide variety of applications [1], including the etching of silicon and polymeric material. These plasmas offer tremendous scaling and uniformity capabilities and possess extremely low electron temperatures. The inherent low electron temperature results in low plasma fields and potentials, which in turn provides low energy (< 3 eV) ions to the substrate. Mixtures of TEOS and O@sub 2@ were used to grow SiO@sub 2@ films in modulated electron beam generated plasmas. The film electrical and optical properties with respect to gas mixtures, substrate type, temperature and ion energy will be presented. Fluxes to the substrate determined by mass spectrometry measurements will be correlated to these process variables and final film quality. Together with the previous etching work, electron beam generated plasmas may provide the critical dry processing necessary for flexible, large area electronics. Work supported by the Office of Naval Research. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@ See presentations by these authors at this and previous AVS symposia.