Infrared response of silicon oxynitrides investigated by high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy

Abstract

Silicon oxynitride films of various compositions were grown in situ by RF-plasma sputtering. The high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectra were analyzed in the framework of the dielectric theory after addition of a characteristic background structure. The evolution of the energy-loss peaks as a func-) concentration ratio clearly exhibits a one-mode behavior. This suggests that silicon oxynitride is characterized by a mixture of Si-0 and Si-N bonds at the atomic level. An exponential frequency shift of the main peak is observed as a function of the concentration ratio. Infrared optical parameter values are provided for thermal and RF-plasma sputtered oxides, and for two compositions of RF-plasma SiO N [y/(y +x) =0.37 and 0.80] silicon oxynitrides.

Thermal Behavior of Alkyl Monolayers on Silicon Surfaces

“…The peak that appears at 2350 cm -1 upon annealing to 720 K is attributed to an overtone of the Si-O-Si stretch. 20 Analogous experiments for monolayers formed on Si(111) prepared in our laboratory gave similar results. Similar results were also obtained for octene monolayers on Si(100).…”

Study of the desorption mechanism of alkylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers through isotopic labeling and high resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments

“…Figure 3 shows closeups of the C-H stretching region and the overtone of the Si-O-Si asymmetric stretch. 18 The spectra remain unchanged up to 740 K. Upon annealing to 780 K, the intensities of the C-H modes decrease slightly relative to the Si-O modes, indicating a reduction in the monolayer coverage. Annealing to 815 K results in a further reduction of the C-H intensities and the appearance of two peaks in the C-H stretch at 2920 and 2980 cm Ϫ1 , along with the appearance of a single peak at 1400 cm Ϫ1 in the bending region.…”

“…The same peak was observed upon annealing of hydrogenated monolayers and was attributed to the overtone of the asymmetric Si-O-Si stretch. 18 To further verify this assignment, the 2000-2500 cm Ϫ1 region for the hydrogenated monolayers ͑Fig. 3͒ was subtracted from the same region for the partially deuterated monolayers ͓Fig.…”

Critical evaluation of the state of the art of the analysis of light elements in thin films demonstrated using the examples of SiOXNY and AlOXNY films (IUPAC Technical Report)

“…Reference [144] especially deals with the consideration if silicon oxynitride films are a solid alloy of SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 with covalent bonds linking together SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 molecules. This material should exhibit properties following what the authors call a two-mode behavior, identical to the RMM.…”

“…The conclusion was that the methods showed a relatively good agreement, if high precision was not requested. In [144], RBS was used to calibrate the AES instrument. The same group of authors also investigated the hydrogenation of AlO X N Y films with RBS measurements [150].…”