MICROSTRUCTURE AND DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF SILICON CARBONITRIDE DIELECTRIC BARRIER FILMS DEPOSITED BY SPUTTERING

Silicon carbon nitride (SiCN) films were prepared on silicon substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering of a sintered silicon carbide target in a mixture of argon, nitrogen and acetylene. Detailed studies including energy dispersive spectrometer, atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry and C-V measuring instrument were performed. The as-deposited SiCN films do not exhibit obvious crystalline phase, and the SiCN films annealed at 600 degrees C show SiC crystal and graphite carbon. The SiCN films mainly consist of Si-N, Si-C, Si-O, C-C, C N, Si-H-n and N-H-n bonds, and increasing C2H2 flow rate promotes the formation of C-C, N-H-n and Si-N bonds. The SiCN film with low dielectric constant of 3.8 and compact structure was successfully prepared.