Effect of vacuum rapid thermal annealing on the properties of SiNx films

Silicon nitride films prepared by different chemical vapor deposition techn iques (APCVD, PECVD, mu PCVD, LPCVD) are submitted to rapid thermal anneali ng (RTA) in vacuum at 800-1400 degrees C for different time intervals of 15 -180 s. The samples have been characterized by infra red (IR) spectroscopy and by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements before and after RTA. The eff ect of the RTA on the IR spectra is the gradual shift of the maximum of the Si-N band from 826 to 833.2 cm(-1). The RHEED spectra show that alpha-crys talline phase appears in the SiN layers after the RTA treatment. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.