Growth and electronic properties of thin Si3N4 films grown on Si in a nitrogen glow discharge

Abstract
Thin Si3N4 films were grown on Si by direct exposure to a low‐temperature (250–650 °C) nitrogen glow discharge at 13.56 MHz. The activation energy for growth is 0.3±0.12 eV. Their chemical and electronic, bulk, and interfacial properties are studied as a function of the film thickness and growth temperature. The ultrathin films (dEV+0.35 eV is attributed to the Si dangling bond defect while the trap at EV+0.1 eV could be attributed to a structural defect that is in situ annealed at growth temperatures higher than 500 °C. The interface state concentration is a sensitive function of the growth temperature and varies in the range 8×1010–6×1012 cm−2.