Highly moisture-resistive silicon nitride films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition and application to gallium arsenide field-effect transistors

摘要

Moisture resistivity for silicon nitride (SiNx) films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) was examined. SiNx films prepared by Cat-CVD and those by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were subjected to the pressure cooker test (PCT) in H2O vapor at 2atm and 121degreesC for 96h. It was confirmed after PCT that the intensity of the signal due to Si-O bonds in Fourier-transform infrared absorption spectra remarkably increases for PECVD films although little increase is observed for Cat-CVD films. Low stress of the order of 10 MPa was also obtained for SiNx films prepared by Cat-CVD. SiNx passivation by Cat-CVD brings about low leakage current and high mutual conductance for gallium arsenide self-align-gate field-effect transistors. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.