Influence of the target and working gas on the composition of silicon nitride thin films prepared by reactive RF-sputtering

摘要

Silicon nitride thin films have been prepared at room temperature by RF reactive and non-reactive sputtering over several substrates. Pure silicon and high-density ceramic β-Si_3N_4 have been selected as two different target materials in order to study the properties of the obtained thin films. Additionally, different working sputtering gases have been selected to study their influence on the composition and properties of the obtained thin films. The relative composition and the absolute amount of nitrogen of the films have been determined by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and nuclear reaction analysis, respectively.