In-situ infrared reflective absorption spectroscopy characterization of SiN films deposited using sputtering-type ECR microwave plasma

High quality amorphous silicon nitride films have been deposited, without substrate heating, using a sputtering-type electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasma. The compositional and structural characterizations have been made by means of a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer and an ellipsometer. The correlation between the microstructure of a-SixNy films and nitrogen gas fraction relative to argon (View the MathML source) is discussed. In-situ Fourier transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (ISFT-IRRAS) has been used to study the properties of View the MathML source interface. The results from ISFT-IRRAS monitoring indicate that the broadening of a SiN stretching vibration mode, induced by interface stress, decreases with increased film thickness.