Diffusion of hydrogen in low-pressure chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride films

Hydrogen transport in low-pressure chemical vapor deposited Si3N4 has been investigated using samples consisting of a double layer of hydrogenated and deuterated nitride films. Concentration depth profiles of hydrogen and deuterium were measured using elastic recoil detection. Diffusion coefficients for D were derived from the deuterium concentration depth profiles before and after annealing at temperatures in the range 700–1000 °C. The diffusion coefficient is characterized by an activation energy of 2.94 eV for the entire temperature range. Its value varies between 10−17 cm2/s at 700 °C and 5×10−14 cm2/s at 1000 °C.