Abstract
Ultra-thin silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) layers were deposited by direct interaction of plasma species formed in an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) with a silicon wafer. APPJs have been ignited in mixtures of helium (He) together with several nitrogen-based compounds. The chemical composition of the APPJ treated silicon surfaces was analysed by ultra-high vacuum x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained N 1s XPS spectra showed that even 5 min of APPJ treatment is sufficient to fabricate SiOxNy films with a few nanometre thickness. A Si substrate exposed to an APPJ generated in a mixture of He/NH3 resulted in the most efficient growth of SiOxNy films, indicated by the strongest N 1s XPS signal among all studied gas mixtures. Moreover, the N 1s spectra exhibited two major characteristics of chemical bonding structures attributed to nitrogen bonded to three silicon surface atoms, N-(S)3, and nitrogen bonded to two silicon surface atoms and one oxygen atom, (Si)2-N-O.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 145202 |
| Journal | Journal Physics D: Applied Physics |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Apr 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- XPS
- atmospheric pressure plasma
- chemical reactivity
- silicon oxynitride