Low Temperature Silicon Nitride and Silicon Dioxide Film Processing by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

High‐density plasma technology is becoming increasingly attractive for the deposition of dielectric films such as silicon nitride and silicon dioxide. In particular, inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICPCVD) offers a great advantage for low‐temperature processing over plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for a range of devices including compound semiconductors and magnetic heads. In this paper, the development of low temperature (<200°C) silicon nitride and silicon dioxide films utilizing ICP technology is discussed. The material properties of these films have been investigated as a function of ICP source power, radio‐frequency chuck power, chamber pressure, gas chemistry, and temperature. The ICPCVD films are compared to PECVD films in terms of wet etch rate, stress, and other film characteristics. Two different gas chemistries, and , were explored for the deposition of ICPCVD silicon nitride. The ICPCVD silicon dioxide films were prepared from . The wet etch rates of both silicon nitride and silicon dioxide films are significantly lower than films prepared by conventional PECVD. This implies that ICPCVD films prepared at these low temperatures are of higher quality. The advanced ICPCVD technology can also be used for efficient void‐free filling of high aspect ratio (3:1) sub‐micrometer trenches. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.