Electrical characteristics of plasma deposited SiO/sub 2/ films produced in an ECR reactor from silane/O/sub 2/ or TEOS/O/sub 2/ gas mixtures

Summary form only given. One method of low-temperature deposition of SiO/sub 2/ films is plasma deposition using a Si containing source gas. Previous work has investigated the properties of the plasma generated with silane (SiH/sub 4/)/O/sub 2/ and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS)/O/sub 2/ gas mixtures in an electron cyclotron resonant (ECR) plasma reactor. It was found that the SiO concentration in the SiH/sub 4//O/sub 2/ plasma was about 2/spl times/10/sup 11/ cm/sup -3/, while that in the TEOS/O/sub 2/ plasma was about 2/spl times/10/sup 9/ cm/sup -3/. That work also examined the SiO/sub 2/ deposition rate, etch rate of the SiO/sub 2/ film in a CHF/sub 3//O/sub 2/ plasma, and compared the refractive index of the films produced by the two source gas mixtures. These characteristics were all found to be a function of the gas mixture, and the power and pressure of the ECR plasma. This work examines the dependence of the ac electrical properties of ECR deposited SiO/sub 2/ films on the source gas mixture (SiH/sub 4//O/sub 2/ or TEOS/O/sub 2/) and the plasma power and pressure. This is motivated by the need to assess the applicability of these films to electrical applications, and to determine the sensitivity of the electrical properties to process variations. The films are deposited onto a silicon wafer which has been passivated with a thermal oxide layer, and on which an interdigitated electrode pattern has been fabricated.