Application of the ERD method for hydrogen determination in silicon (oxy) nitride thin films prepared by ECR plasma deposition

Abstract Elastic recoil detection method was applied for the study of hydrogen in silicon nitride as well as silicon oxynitride thin films. For this purpose 2.4 MeV 4 He + ions produced by the Van de Graaff accelerator of JINR have been used. The thin films have been prepared by the electron cyclotron resonance plasma deposition technique. The physical properties of these layers, which play an important role in the technology of semiconductor devices, are strongly dependent on the amount of hydrogen incorporated during their deposition. The technique of the hydrogen depth determination by ERD is very important for the optimization of process parameters of the ECR plasma deposition of the silicon (oxy)nitride layers with optimal physical and electrical properties.