Silica ®lm preparation by chemical vapor deposition using vacuum ultraviolet excimer lamps

We have prepared SiO2 thin ®lms on silicon wafers from tetraethoxyorthosilicate (TEOS; Si(OC2H5)4) by photochemical vapor deposition (photo-CVD) with the use of various excimer lamps which emit incoherent light at 308 (XeCl), 222 (KrCl), 172 (Xe2), 146 (Kr2) and 126 nm (Ar2). The ®lm deposition is observed at wavelengths shorter than 172 nm. With 10 mW/cm2 172 nm radiation, the growth rate is 8 nm/min on the room temperature substrate. The deposition ef®ciency depends on the wavelength and shows the maximum value for 146 nm radiation. Addition of O2 to TEOS induces inhibition of C and H impurity inclusion in the ®lms. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved