Oxide film formation from electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas

The formation of SiOx films and fluorine-doped SiOx films using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma deposition is described. Parametric studies of the film composition and hydrogen content as a function of feed gas composition and RF biasing are presented. By replacing SM, with SiF4 in the gas feed, samples with F content from 2 at.% F to 12 at.% F are deposited, and the dielectric constant of the deposited layers decrease linearly with increasing fluorine concentration. The stability of these low dielectric constant SiOxFy layers is examined under hydrating conditions, and conditions typically found for interlayer dielectric processing in microelectronics. The hydrogen content of the SiO2 and F-doped SiO2 is characterized as a function of deposition conditions, and a model is given to describe the thermal release of H from SiO2.