Ellipsometric, XPS and FTIR study on SiCN films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition method

SiCN films were deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) method using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). These films contain a lot of oxygen. Using HMDS with NH3, low oxygen content films can be obtained. It is found from the structure determination that Si‐N bonds are the vital bonds of SiCN films. It is also found that the highest amount of Si‐N bonds content SiCN has the highest amount of nitrogen and the amount of nitrogen is directly related to the properties of the films. The amount of oxygen, film density, the refractive index and optical band gap are strong functions of the amount of nitrogen in the films. With increasing nitrogen, the amount of oxygen decreases and with decreasing nitrogen, the amount of oxygen increases. The film density and optical band gap also increase with increasing nitrogen. On the other hand with increasing nitrogen, the refractive index decreases.