Structural Study of SiO_x Amorphous Thin Films by the Grazing Incidence X-ray Scattering (GIXS) Method

Atomic structures of SiO_x amorphous thin films of 200 nm thick were analyzed by the grazing incident x-ray scattering (GIXS) method. The radial distribution functions (RDFs) were experimentally determined in two SiO_x amorphous thin films grown in the atmosphere with and without N_2 gas. The SiO_x amorphous film grown with N_2 gas forms the network structure consisting of SiO_4 tetrahedra which are connected each other by oxygen atoms at their vertices. This network structure is similar to the one observed in SiO_2 glass. On the other hand, in the SiO_x amorphous film grown without N_2 gas, the atomic distance of Si-O pairs is a few percent longer and the coordination number of O-O pairs is smaller than the other. This suggests that some of oxygen atoms in a SiO_4 tetrahedron are not connected to a next neighboring tetrahedron. Namely, some part of the network structure is disconnected in the SiO_x amorphous film grown without N_2 gas. Due to this imperfection of the network structure, it is expected that the SiO_x film grown without N_2 gas would be inferior to the other one grown with N_2 gas in some electrical properties as an insulator