Study of growth kinetics and depth resolved composition of a-SiNx:H thin films by resonant soft X-ray reflectivity at the Si L2,3-edge

Angle dependent resonant soft X-ray reflectivity (R-SoXR) measurements in the energy range (82.67-206.7 eV) were performed on PECVD grown amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) thin films of different compositions near the Si-L2,3 edge (∼100 eV). The compositional difference is reflected in the optical density (δ) of the two films. It is demonstrated that R-SoXR can non-destructively distinguish between the compositional variations through the depth of a given thin film, whereby it becomes possible to differentiate between the growth kinetics of the films prepared under different conditions. The compositions determined from R-SoXR, are in qualitative agreement with those determined from Rutherford back scattering (RBS) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA).