Influence of deposition conditions on mechanical properties of low-pressure chemical vapor deposited low-stress silicon nitride films

Toivola, Yvete; Thurn, Jeremy; Cook, Robert F.; Cibuzar, Greg; Roberts, Kevin J.

doi:10.1063/1.1622776

Cited by 88 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Varying the chamber pressure, plasma power and frequency, the deposition temperature, and precursor gas ratios will change the stress in the SiN x film [29,30].…”

Section: Sinx Deposition and Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon nanomembranes as a means to evaluate stress evolution in deposited thin films

Clausen¹,

Paskiewicz²,

Sadeghirad³

et al. 2014

Extreme Mechanics Letters

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Thin-film deposition on ultra-thin substrates poses unique challenges because of the potential for a dynamic response to the film stress during deposition. While theoretical studies have investigated film stress related changes in the substrate, little has been done to learn how stress might evolve in a film growing on a compliant substrate. We use silicon nanomembranes (SiNMs), extremely thin sheets of single-crystalline Si, as a substrate for the growth of amorphous SiN x to begin to address this question. Nanomembranes are released from a silicon-oninsulator wafer with selective etching, transferred over a hole etched into a Si wafer, and bonded to the edges of the hole. The nanomembrane window provides the substrate for SiN x deposition and a platform, using Raman spectroscopy, for measurements of the evolving strain in the nanomembrane. From the strain in the nanomembrane, the film stress can be inferred from the required balance of forces in the film/substrate system. We observe that the strain in the tethered 2 NM increases as the NM is made thinner while the intrinsic steady-state stress in the deposited film is reduced.

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“…Varying the chamber pressure, plasma power and frequency, the deposition temperature, and precursor gas ratios will change the stress in the SiN x film [29,30].…”

Section: Sinx Deposition and Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon nanomembranes as a means to evaluate stress evolution in deposited thin films

Clausen¹,

Paskiewicz²,

Sadeghirad³

et al. 2014

Extreme Mechanics Letters

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show abstract

“…Although the deposition conditions used in [68] were not identical to those of this work, we assume that the CTE of our silicon nitride film is also lower than that of ~i l i c o n .~ A lower thermal expansion of the nitride film relative to the substrate results in tensile strain in the torsional resonator upon heating. Finite element calculation of the resonance frequency with and without application of pre-stress (c. f. CTEs have been reported for stoichiometric silicon nitride [29].…”

Section: Bias Voltagementioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended microchannel resonators for biomolecular detection

Burg

Manalis

2003

Applied Physics Letters

214

139

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Microfabricated transducers enable the label-free detection of biological molecules in nanoliter sized samples. Integrating microfluidic detect ion and sample-preparat ion can greatly leverage experimental efforts in systems biology and pharmaceutical research by increasing analysis throughput while dramatically reducing reagent cost.Microfabricated resonant mass sensors are among the most sensitive devices for chemical detection, but degradation of the sensitivity in liquid has so far hindered their successful application in biology. This thesis introduces a type of resonant transducer that overcomes this limitation by a new device design: Adsorption of molecules to the inside walls of a suspended microfluidic channel is detected by measuring the change in mechanical resonance frequency of the channel. In contrast to resonant mass sensors submersed in water, the sensitivity and frequency resolution of the suspended microchannel resonator is not degraded by the presence of the fluid. Our device differs from a vibrating tube densitometer in that the channel is very thin, and only molecules that bind to the walls can build up enough mass to be detected; this provides a path to specificity via molecular recognition by immobilized receptors.Suspended silicon nitride channels have been fabricated through a sacrificial polysilicon process and bulk micromachining, and the packaging and microfluidic interfacing of the resonant sensors has been addressed. Device characterization at 30 mTorr ambient pressure reveals a quality factor of more than 10,000 for water filled resonators; this is two orders of magnitude higher than previously demonstrated Q-values of resonant mass sensors for biological measurements.Calculation of the noise and the sensitivity of suspended microchannel resonators indi-

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“…In general, the Young's modulus obtained from PECVD SiNx films is lower than the one formed by low-pressure chemical deposition (LPCVD). The plane strain modulus (given by E/(1 − ν 2 )) of LPCVD was reported to be in the range of 230 to 330 GPa [31,32]. This is probably due to the higher synthesis temperatures used in LPCVD, typically at 700 °C or above.…”

Section: Crystallinity and Phase Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Structure and Mechanical Properties of Silicon Nitride and Silicon Oxynitride Thin Films Deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

2018

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Silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride thin films are widely used in microelectronic fabrication and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Their mechanical properties are important for MEMS structures; however, these properties are rarely reported, particularly the fracture toughness of these films. In this study, silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride thin films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) under different silane flow rates. The silicon nitride films consisted of mixed amorphous and crystalline Si 3 N 4 phases under the range of silane flow rates investigated in the current study, while the crystallinity increased with silane flow rate in the silicon oxynitride films. The Young's modulus and hardness of silicon nitride films decreased with increasing silane flow rate. However, for silicon oxynitride films, Young's modulus decreased slightly with increasing silane flow rate, and the hardness increased considerably due to the formation of a crystalline silicon nitride phase at the high flow rate. Overall, the hardness, Young modulus, and fracture toughness of the silicon nitride films were greater than the ones of silicon oxynitride films, and the main reason lies with the phase composition: the SiN x films were composed of a crystalline Si 3 N 4 phase, while the SiO x N y films were dominated by amorphous Si-O phases. Based on the overall mechanical properties, PECVD silicon nitride films are preferred for structural applications in MEMS devices.

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Influence of deposition conditions on mechanical properties of low-pressure chemical vapor deposited low-stress silicon nitride films

Cited by 88 publications

References 35 publications

Silicon nanomembranes as a means to evaluate stress evolution in deposited thin films

Silicon nanomembranes as a means to evaluate stress evolution in deposited thin films

Suspended microchannel resonators for biomolecular detection

Material Structure and Mechanical Properties of Silicon Nitride and Silicon Oxynitride Thin Films Deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

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