Deposition And Xps Studies Of Dual Sputtered Bcn Thin Films

Thin films of boron carbon nitride (BCN) are deposited by co-sputtering of B4C (Direct Current - DC) and BN (Radio frequency - RF) targets with varying N2/Ar gas flow ratio and DC target power. BCN being a low-k material and a potential inter layer dielectric (ILD), the deposition and surface analysis become prime factors for ultra large scale integration (ULSI) process and device integration. In this study, a thorough analysis on deposition rate of BCN thin films is conducted as a function of various N2/Ar gas flow ratios, target powers and substrate deposition temperatures. XPS studies are conducted to ascertain the chemical composition and bonding of the deposited BCN films for the various deposition parameters. The deposition rate is found to show a decreasing trend with an increase in substrate deposition temperature but showed an increasing trend at 400 °C. As the sputtering yield of B4C target is far greater than that of BN target, the deposition rate and XPS studies are conducted for the target powers of 20 W and 40 W for the B4C target. The deposition rate showed a decreasing trend from N2/Ar = 0.25 to 0.75, but increases at N2/Ar = 1. The XPS characterization indicates the formation of BCN phase distinctly with few separate phases of CN and BN