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Control Of Stress In Silicon Nitride Thin Films, Ajay Krishnan

Theses

Silicon nitride thin films of varying composition and thickness were deposited on silicon substrates by reactive rf diode sputtering of a silicon target using an argon/nitrogen gas mixture. Film stoichiometry could be controlled by varying the partial pressure of nitrogen, the total sputtering gas pressure and the target rf power. Films with refractive index of 2.01, the value for stoichiometric silicon nitride, could be obtained. Film stress was measured by wafer curvature; refractive index and thickness of deposited films were obtained by ellipsometry and interferometry measurements. The etch rate in buffered HF for films with refractive index 2.05 was 29A/min; …