Electrically neutral nitrogen dangling-bond defects in amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride thin films

We have investigated the effects of different post‐deposition temperature anneals and N‐H concentrations, on the generation of ultraviolet (UV)‐induced two‐coordinated nitrogen dangling bonds in plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) silicon nitride films using electron spin resonance (ESR). It is shown that the nitrogen dangling bond is activated by post‐deposition anneals with temperatures as low as 500 °C in N‐rich PECVD nitride films followed by subsequent UV broadband illumination. It also appears that there is a possible correlation between the initial N‐H concentration in the films and the concentration of generated nitrogen dangling bonds following the anneal/UV sequence. We also report the charge state associated with the nitrogen dangling bond using a combination of ESR and capacitance versus voltage measurements; these measurements suggest that this two‐coordinated defect is electrically neutral when paramagnetic.

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