Silicon Nitride Films Deposited by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

Films of silicon nitride are widely used in semiconductor technologies for very large scale integration (VLSI), thin film transistor (TFT), and solar cell applications. Current production technologies for silicon nitride use low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) at temperatures > 700 °C or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at temperatures below 450 °C. In this report, successful deposition of silicon nitride films by the low temperature thermal atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) method is described. Using a novel precursor tetraiodosilane (SiI4), deposition of silicon nitride has been achieved at temperature as low as 400 °C. Data pertaining to the dependence of film properties on deposition temperature are presented, along with a evaluation of the deposition rate, composition, chemical structure, and conformality of the resulting films