Various applications of silicon nitride by catalytic chemical vapor deposition for coating, passivation and insulating films

Various applications of silicon nitride (SiN x) films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) as coating, passivation and insulating films are reviewed. Characteristic features of SiN x films by Cat-CVD are dense (low hydrogen content), low wet-etch rate, low oxygen or water-vapor transmission rate even when prepared at low temperatures below 300 deg. C and low stress. Therefore, SiN x films prepared by Cat-CVD are suitable as coating and passivation films for electronic devices, mechanical parts and plastic films. SiN x films prepared by Cat-CVD are, of course, also applicable as insulating films used in ultralarge-scale integrated circuits (ULSIs) and thin-film transistors (TFTs). These various applications are introduced, along with a summary of the fundamental properties of the SiN x films and a possible explanation as to why such dense films are obtained even at low temperatures