CHARACTERIZATION OF REMOTE PLASMA-ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION PROCESSES

We investigated the deposition of thin oxide films with the remote plasma-enhanced deposition technique using metal-organic (MO) compounds as starting materials. In order to characterize the deposition process, we applied optical emission spectroscopy and various methods to analyse the deposited films. In the remote process with MO compounds usually three gases are involved: source gas, carrier gas and excitation gas. Besides the choice of these gases, the deposition is influenced by parameters such as r.f. power, pressure, gas flows and substrate temperature. Our results show that these parameters must be chosen appropriately in order to make use of the specific advantages of the remote plasma, i.e. reduced substrate damage and improved process control. Similarly, to obtain films of the desired properties, for each material to be deposited the combination of the three gases has to be carefully chosen.