Low Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition Method Utilizing an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma

The plasma deposition apparatus developed in this study can realize a deposition of dense and high quality thin films, such as Si3N4 and SiO2, without the need for substrate heating. It does this by enhancing the plasma excitation efficiency at low gas pressures (10-4 Torr) and by the acceleration effect of ions with moderate energies (10 to 20 eV), using a microwave ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) excited plasma, and a plasma stream extraction onto the specimen table by a divergent magnetic field method. The Si3N4 and SiO2 films deposited are comparable to those prepared by high temperature CVD and thermal oxidation, respectively, in evaluations such as by buffered HF solution etch rate measurement.