The Nitridation of Silicon in Ammonia and Nitrogen

Rene Chaustowski (2012). The Nitridation of Silicon in Ammonia and Nitrogen MPhil Thesis, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland.

       
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Author Rene Chaustowski
Thesis Title The Nitridation of Silicon in Ammonia and Nitrogen
School, Centre or Institute School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering
Institution The University of Queensland
Publication date 2012-03
Thesis type MPhil Thesis
Supervisor Dr Jin Zou
Dr Yong Wang
Total pages 74
Total colour pages 5
Total black and white pages 69
Language eng
Subjects 0912 Materials Engineering
1007 Nanotechnology
Abstract/Summary Nitridation of Si has been a fundamental processing for many solid thin film applications. In recent decades, significant efforts have been devoted to fabricate SiN thin films as SiN has been considered as the primary candidates for the microelectronics mechanical system (MEMS) or even nanoelectronics mechanical system (NEMS). There are a number of pathways to fabricate SiN and the quality of the SiN varies with the different techniques. Among these fabrication techniques, nitridation of Si is a commonly used technique for generating the nucleation sites for the further growth of SiN. Although the nitridation of Si has been widely used, the fundamental mechanism of the nitridation evolution is unclear. In this MPhil project, nitridation of silicon wafers by a rapid thermal heating process with both nitrogen and ammonia as precursors was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and ellipsometry analyses. It was found that, under ammonia gas, the growth of nitride film was limited to 0.5 nm, whilst under the nitrogen atmosphere, a nitride film of 5-10 nm could be formed at 1200°C. The limited growth in ammonia suggests formation of high-quality passivating layer. The significance of this project is to provide insight information of evolution of Si nitridation, which is scientifically important and technologically necessary.
Keyword silicon
Nitridation
transmission electron microscope (TEM)
Ellipsometry
Additional Notes Colour pages: 20, 50, 51, 60 ,61.

 
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Created: Thu, 26 Apr 2012, 18:18:54 EST by Mr Rene Chaustowski on behalf of Library - Information Access Service