Remote Plasma SiO₂Deposition by Tetraethoxysilane with Chemically and Energetically Different Atomic Species

Thin films of SiO 2 are deposited using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as the source gas in remote rf (13.56 MHz) and microwave plasmas. Depositions were carried out using atomic and molecular radicals of different reactivities generated in O 2 , N 2 , H 2 , Ar and He plasmas. SiO 2 films could be fabricated only in the downstreams of O 2 , N 2 and Ar plasmas with the reaction of TEOS. SiO 2 was not produced by TEOS with the reaction of downstream of H 2 or He plasma. SiO 2 deposited with Ar plasma contains a small amount of C. The activation energy of film growth rate varies depending on the partially decomposed TEOS precursor density. Furthermore, the quality of SiO 2 films deposited with energetically different ground-state ( O( 3 P)) and excited-state ( O( 1 D)) atomic oxygen environments was comparatively studied. Films deposited in an excess O( 1 D) environment show better physical and electrical properties, though the yield of SiO 2 is independent of the state of the atom.