Conformal thin-film silicon nitride deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

We have studied silicon nitride thin films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition as a function of the substrate temperature and hydrogen dilution. We found that adding H2 to the process significantly enhances silicon nitride film deposition. High-quality films can be grown at low substrate temperatures (<350 °C). At optimized conditions, a 500-Å-thick silicon nitride film gives a nearly 100% surface coverage on a 100 nm scale object. H dilution dramatically increases the NH2 radicals in the process and leads to conformal films.