Various applications of silicon nitride by catalytic chemical vapor deposition for coating, passivation and insulating films

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 501; no. 1; pp. 149 - 153
• Main Authors: Masuda, Atsushi, Umemoto, Hironobu, Matsumura, Hideki
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 20.04.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Chemical vapor deposition (CVD); Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced cvd, mocvd, etc.); Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Insulators; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Passivation; Physics; Silicon nitride; Surface treatments; Insulators; Chemical vapor deposition (CVD); Silicon nitride; Passivation; Inorganic compounds; Crystallization; Binary compounds; ULSI; Thin film transistors; Coatings; Hot wire; CV characteristic; CVD; Reviews; Silicon nitrides; Low temperature
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2005.07.172

Various applications of silicon nitride (SiN x ) films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) as coating, passivation and insulating films are reviewed. Characteristic features of SiN x films by Cat-CVD are dense (low hydrogen content), low wet-etch rate, low oxygen or water-vapor transmission rate even when prepared at low temperatures below 300 °C and low stress. Therefore, SiN x films prepared by Cat-CVD are suitable as coating and passivation films for electronic devices, mechanical parts and plastic films. SiN x films prepared by Cat-CVD are, of course, also applicable as insulating films used in ultralarge-scale integrated circuits (ULSIs) and thin-film transistors (TFTs). These various applications are introduced, along with a summary of the fundamental properties of the SiN x films and a possible explanation as to why such dense films are obtained even at low temperatures.