Synthesis of nanocrystalline silicon carbonitride films by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using the mixture of hexamethyldisilazane with helium and ammonia

The silicon carbonitride films were synthesised by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RPECVD) using a mixture of ammonia, helium and hexamethyldisilazane Si2NH(CH3)(6) as the volatile single-source precursor, Different analysis techniques such as IR, Raman spectroscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, EDS, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy. selective area electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation were used to study their physical and chemical properties. The formation of chemical bonding was shown to Occur between Si, C, N atoms in the ternary compound. The chemical composition of these films depended mainly on the ammonia concentration in the gaseous phase. It was established that there is a distribution of nanocrystals in the amorphous matrix in these films. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.