Topic
Silicon nitride
About: Silicon nitride is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32678 publications have been published within this topic receiving 413599 citations. The topic is also known as: N₄Si₃.
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TL;DR: In this article, a large quantity of very thin and wide single-crystal alpha silicon nitride (α-Si3N4) nanobelts were synthesized by a vapor-solid thermal reaction between ammonia and silicon monoxide (SiO) without using any added catalyst.
Abstract: Large quantities of very thin and wide single-crystal alpha silicon nitride (α-Si3N4) nanobelts were synthesized by a vapor-solid thermal reaction between ammonia and silicon monoxide (SiO) without using any added catalyst. Scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the formed nanobelts. The single-crystal α-Si3N4 nanobelts are about 800–1200 nm in width, 20–35 nm in thickness and about several tens to several hundreds of micrometers in length. The nanobelts are perfect in structure. The nanobelts grow along [011] and [100] direction. Intense visible photoluminescence (PL) occurring on the wide and thin nanobelts over a broad spectrum ranging from 420 to 750 nm was observed. The visible PL emission is related to the inherently imperfect Si and N dangling bonds in the α-Si3N4 structure.
101 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the performance of inductively-coupled plasma high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor (PECVD), and low pressure chemical vaporization (LPCVD) methods.
Abstract: Silicon nitride films have been deposited using inductively-coupled plasma high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) methods. Characterization and comparison of the three films were performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, secondary-ion mass spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and hydrogen forward-scattering spectrometry, in addition to wet-etch rate and stress measurement studies. It was found that silicon nitride films deposited using HDP CVD method have several advantages over the silicon nitride films that were deposited using the LPCVD and PECVD methods. The HDP CVD silicon nitride film can be deposited at much lower temperatures (⩽400 °C) than LPCVD silicon nitride, and has substantially less hydrogen (5.5 at. %) than the PECVD film. In addition, the PECVD film contains some oxygen in the film. The wet-etch rate of HDP CVD silicon nitride film is comp...
101 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, high performance amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs) were fabricated on 2 mil. (51 µm) thick polyimide foil substrates.
Abstract: We have fabricated high-performance amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs) on 2 mil. (51 µm) thick polyimide foil substrates. The TFT structure was deposited by r.f.-excited plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). All TFT layers, including the gate silicon nitride, the undoped, and the n+ amorphous silicon were deposited at a substrate temperature of 150°C. The transistors have inverted-staggered back-channel etch structure. The TFT off-current is ∼ 10−12 A, the on-off current ratio is > 107, the threshold voltage is 3.5 V, the sub-threshold slope is ∼ 0.5V/decade, and the linear-regime mobility is ∼ 0.5 cm2V−1s−1. We compare the mechanical behavior of a thin film on a stiff and on a compliant substrate. The thin film stress can be reduced to one half by changing from a stiff to a compliant substrate. A new equation is developed for the radius of curvature of thin films on compliant substrates.
101 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a helium-cooled measurement setup is developed and installed inside a focused-ion-beam (FIB) system to determine Young's modulus and fracture strength of silicon nitride thin films at room and cryogenic temperatures.
Abstract: T-shape, LPCVD silicon nitride cantilevers are fabricated to determine Young's modulus and fracture strength of silicon nitride thin films at room and cryogenic temperatures. A helium-cooled measurement setup is developed and installed inside a focused-ion-beam (FIB) system. A lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) translator powered by a function generator and a dc voltage is utilized as an actuator, and a silicon diode is used as a temperature sensor in this setup. Resonant frequencies of identical cantilevers with different "milling masses" are measured to obtain thickness and Young's modulus of the silicon nitride thin films, while a bending test is performed to obtain fracture strength. From the experiment, the average Young's modulus of low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition (LPCVD) silicon nitride thin films varies from 260.5 GPa at room temperature (298 K) to 266.6 GPa at 30 K, and the average fracture strength ranges from 6.9 GPa at room temperature to 7.9 GPa at 30 K. The measurement setup and technique presented here can be used to characterize the mechanical properties of different MEMS materials at cryogenic temperatures.
101 citations
TL;DR: Si 3 N 4 thin films were deposited with atomic layer control on Si(100) substrates using sequential surface chemical reactions as mentioned in this paper, which was accomplished by separating the binary reaction 3SiCl 4 +4NH 3 →Si 3N 4 +12HCl into two half-reactions.
101 citations