Silicon-aluminum oxynitride composite films deposited by reactive ion beam sputtering

Amorphous Silicon-Aluminum Oxynitride (SIALON) films were deposited by a reactive ion beam sputtering (IBS) method with neutralizer. The properties for insulating films were examined for these SIALON films. Auger analysis shows that the deposited SIALON films have uniform composition of atoms in the depth. The etching rate of the films by hydrofluoric acid 30 nm/min under the deposition condition above 30% of oxygen partial pressure. This rate is lower than that of Si₃ N₄ films deposited by CVD and SIALON films deposited here are thought to be more dense than the films deposited by CVD. Breakdown electric field strength of the films increases with increasing oxygen partial pressure and reaches to the maximum value of 2 MV/cm at 30-40% oxygen. The high breakdown strength, low dielectric loss and dense film can be obtained by controlling oxygen pressure in IBS. These facts suggest that the SIALON film deposited by IBS is expected to be useful for the passivation of electronic devices