Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of SiOx Films Using Electron Beam Generated Plasmas

Abstract : Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used as a silicon source to grow SiO2 films in a modulated electron beam generated plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) arrangement. Process parameters investigated were: substrate temperature, gas composition, duty factor, and incident ion energy. At high temperatures (>150 C), film compositions were less sensitive to the process parameters, while at lower temperatures, the film chemistries varied greatly. Activation energies of -0.122 eV and -0.020 eV were determined for the films grown in these respective temperature ranges. Below 250 C, preferred growth conditions (> 20 nm/min) were found at small flow percentages of TEOS in argon/oxygen mixtures (2:48:50) with increased ion energies. The trade-off between substrate temperature and incident ion energy demonstrated a process viability not previously seen in scalable PECVD systems.