AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Thursday Sessions
       Session AS+TF-ThM

Paper AS+TF-ThM5
Comparison of Silicon Oxynitride Produced by PIII/D and Reactive Sputtering

Thursday, November 3, 2005, 9:40 am, Room 206

Session: Thin Film Characterization
Presenter: N.D. Theodore, College of William and Mary
Authors: N.D. Theodore, College of William and Mary
M. Bagge-Hansen, College of William and Mary
B.C. Holloway, College of William and Mary
D.M. Manos, College of William and Mary
C. Hernandez, Jefferson Lab
T. Siggins, Jefferson Lab
H.F. Dylla, Jefferson Lab
Correspondent: Click to Email
High-purity, hydrogen-free silicon oxynitride films were successfully created using two techniques, plasma immersion ion implantation/deposition (PIII/D) and reactive sputtering. Our previous work has shown that coating 6" polished 304 stainless steel electrodes with silicon oxynitride, created by PIII/D, dramatically reduces field emission from 27 µA of at 15 MV/m to 160 pA at 30 MV/m. We have recently developed a new procedure to deposit silicon oxynitride without ion implantation using a low temperature (<200°C) Rf reactive sputtering process. Both procedures use a 750 W inductively-coupled nitrogen plasma that sputters silicon dioxide from a quartz dielectric window. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the composition and electrical properties of the silicon oxynitride coatings created using the reactive sputtering and PIII/D procedures. The homogeneity, stoichiometry, and density of deposited/implanted layers were determined using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). AES depth profiles determined that both procedures created homogeneous films, and FTIR and XPS spectra confirmed the creation of silicon oxynitrides with approximately 10% nitrogen. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectra and capacitance-voltage measurements will also be presented and discussed.