Analysis of SiO2 thin films deposited by PECVD using an oxygen-TEOS-argon mixture

This study analyses the influence of the argon flow on the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) of silicon oxide thin films by using TEOS as silicon source. The argon flow increases the deposition rate, however i t also can creates some defects in the deposited film. Several characteriza tion techniques were used to analyze the deposited films. The presence of a rgon, in the gas phase, modifies the plasma composition, the surface roughn ess of silicon wafer, and the surface reaction. The optimum argon flow rang es between 65 and 80 seem to obtain a silicon oxide thin film with high qua lity in terms of refractive index, smoothness, and uniformity.