Growth kinetics and complex characterization of PECVD SiO_x N_y dielectric films

This paper is devoted to the study of patterns of dielectric film growth depending on the parameters of the plasma chemical deposition process. The study has revealed the influence of the basic reagents' content on the changes in surface morphology, breakdown voltage and stoichiometry (transition to the intermediate oxidation states of silicon) of dielectric films. Furthermore, an exponential pattern of the change in the films' growth rate has been registered. When increasing the N/Si ratio, a nonlinear dependence of the change in the dielectric films' band gap has been recorded. When increasing the SiH₄/N₂O ratio, a shift of the peak positions of the interband interactions relative to the band gap boundaries has been detected. The dataset on breakdown voltage and band structure suggests a certain optimum of barrier properties of SiO_x N_y dielectric films at the basic reagents' ratio close to 0.3–0.4. (paper)