ABSTRACT
Plasma-deposited silicon nitride and silicon dioxide are widely used as encapsulating materials for the final passivation of very large scale integrated circuits. Electron-impact dissociation of precursor gases in the glow discharge is the primary step for chemical reactions in a plasma chemical vapor deposition system. Many variables must be controlled in plasma deposition, such as power, total pressure, reactant partial pressures, gas flow rates, pumping speed, sample temperature, discharge frequency, electrode spacing, electrode materials, and reactor geometry. These variables mutually interact in determining material properties as well as deposition rates. Compositions of plasma-deposited films can be determined by many physical techniques: Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Rutherford Back Scattering, and Electron Micro Probe Analysis. Plasma-deposited thin films are known to involve wide varieties of structural defects and compositional inhomogeneities. A powerful technique to measure microscopic defects is electron spin resonance, which detects an unpaired spin situated on a defect site.
