Densification of plasma deposited silicon nitride films by hydrogen dilution

The effects of hydrogen dilution on the bonding characteristics, composition, and properties of SiN films deposited from a SiH4/NH3 mixture by r.f. plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition were studied. The addition of relatively small amounts of hydrogen increased the Si/N ratio resulting in a corresponding increase in the SiH/NH bonding ratio. At higher hydrogen dilutions, the Si/N ratio decreased towards stoichiometric with significant changes in the hydrogen bonding characteristics. Changes in the physical properties are discussed in terms of the measured changes in bonding structure. Changes normally associated with changes in bulk film density were found to be well correlated to the SiN bond density. The effects of substrate temperature and NH3/SiH4 ratio on films deposited under conditions of high hydrogen dilution were similar to those widely reported in the literature for plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition films deposited without hydrogen. Films deposited by remote plasma using hydrogen as the excitation exhibited high SiN bond densities and low hydrogen. Experiments are planned to clarify the mechanism responsible for the observed changes in film properties.