Low-temperature growth (400°C) of high-integrity thin silicon-oxynitride films by microwave-excited high-density Kr-O2-NH3 plasma

A drastic reduction of the growth temperature of oxynitride (SiON) films, which are usually grown around 1000 degreesC, is realized by using a microwave-excited high-density Kr-O-2-NH3 plasma system, which enables their growth at 400 degreesC. It is shown that the addition of only a minute amount of nitrogen (0.5% NH3 partial pressure) into a growing SiO2 film, in this system, results in a significant improvements in the performance of both thick (7 nm) films, which operate in the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling regime, and thin (3 nm) films which operate in the direct tunneling regime.