The effect of TEOS plasma parameters on the silicon dioxide deposition mechanisms

•SiO2 film was deposited at low temperature by TEOS based plasma enhanced CVD method.•The correlation of the parameters and the deposition mechanisms was investigated.•We found a good agreement in AFM and FTIR results through full series of parameters.•Finally some proofs were recommended to describe the structural and chemical results.

In this study, the effects of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) plasma parameters on the silicon dioxide deposition mechanisms are studied. The films are deposited by the organometallic based plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition method. The plasma generator is capacitively coupled radio frequency power source. The plasma is the mixture of organometallic TEOS vapour, oxygen and argon. The effects of the TEOS/O2 pressure ratio (0.05–1.5), the applied power (100–400 W) and the argon gas percentage into the plasma (0–20) on the quality of the film are investigated. The film properties such as structure and chemical composition, surface topography are analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. In addition, the relation between the mechanism of deposition phenomenon and the process parameters is studied. It is found that in the deposition process the oxidation and the electron impact mechanisms determine the film characteristics as they can be controlled by adjusting the TEOS/O2 pressure ratio, applied power and argon gas percentage.