Nanoindentation measurements of silicon nitride films deposited using hexachlorodisilane as the si icon precursor

Author

Goodner, D.M. ; Wei, G. ; Markowitz, D. ; Zhuang, K.

Author_Institution

Process R&D, Micron Technol., Inc., Boise, ID

fYear

2008

fDate

18-18 April 2008

Firstpage

22

Lastpage

25

Abstract

The mechanical properties of silicon nitride deposited using hexachlorodisilane (HCD) as the silicon precursor have been studied using nanoindentation. The hardness, elastic modulus and fracture resistance were found to be significantly lower for HCD nitride films than they are for nitride films deposited using dichlorosilane (DCS) as the silicon precursor. The addition of carbon to HCD nitride films resulted in slight decreases in hardness, modulus and fracture resistance. The hardness, modulus and fracture resistance of carbon-doped HCD nitride can be increased by raising the deposition temperature, increasing the ammonia:HCD gas flow ratio and/or post- deposition annealing.

Keywords

elastic moduli; fracture toughness; hardness; indentation; nanotechnology; silicon; thin films; HCD nitride films; dichlorosilane; elastic modulus; fracture resistance; hardness; hexachlorodisilane; mechanical properties; nanoindentation measurements; silicon nitride films; silicon precursor; Annealing; Chemistry; Distributed control; Fluid flow; Mechanical factors; Plasma temperature; Scanning electron microscopy; Semiconductor films; Silicon; Temperature distribution; hexachlorodisilane; mechanical properties; nanoindentation; silicon nitride;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microelectronics and Electron Devices, 2008. WMED 2008. IEEE Workshop on

Conference_Location

Boise, ID

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2343-9

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-2344-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/WMED.2008.4510659

Filename

4510659