Basic characteristics of the a-SiOC:H thin films prepared by PE CVD

journal article - other

English

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxycarbide (a-SiOC:H) thin films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE CVD) using an RF helical coupling pulsed-plasma system. Films of the thickness ranging from 20 nm to 1.4 µm were deposited on silicon wafers from vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) precursor. The thickness of plasma-polymerized films was measured by a Profilometer Talystep using a defined scratch in the layer as deep as the substrate. The deposition rate was observed with respect to the effective power used and the determined dependence could be explained on a basis of the competitive ablation and polymerization mechanisms. Very high deposition rates as far as about 120 nm/min could be reached if proper deposition conditions were tuned. The elemental composition and atomic surface density of thin films were studied by conventional and resonant Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) methods. The Si, C and O bulk content were correlated with the surface one determined from analyses of the photoelectron spectra using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The results correspond very well for films of thickness at least about 1 µm. Surface morphology of prepared films was investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).

plasma, deposition, RBS, XPS, PECVD

Vaněk, J., Přikryl, R., Čech, V., Benešová, L., Peřina, V.

2004

1. 1. 2004

CR

0011-4626

Czechoslovak Journal of Physics

C

54

Czech Republic

937

941

5