Growth of SiNx and SICx thin films by pulsed reactive crossed-beam laser ablation

SiNx and SiCx films were grown on Si(001) and Si(111) using pulsed reactive crossed-beam laser ablation of Si with N-2 and CH4. The scattering process es in the ablation plasma and the reactive gas pulse were investigated usin g time-of-flight quadrupole mass spectroscopy. The film crystallinity was d etermined by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and reflection high-ener gy electron diffraction, while the stoichiometry and chemistry were investi gated using XPS. SiNx was amorphous over the investigated temperature range of 25-850 degrees C, and x increased monotonically with temperature from 0 .67 to 0.94. SiCx films grown at 850 degrees C consisted of oriented large beta-SiC crystallites embedded in a Si matrix.