Carbon nitride films produced using electron cyclotron resonance nitrogen plasmas

Carbon nitride films have been produced using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) nitrogen plasmas. The results of optical emission spectroscopy indicate that reactive nitrogen species are more easily generated than methane-derived species downstream in an ECR plasma. The effect of varying the gas ratio of N-2 to CH4 as well as the substrate temperature on the N/C composition ratio in the film and on the film structure have been investigated. The film growth rate decreases but the concentration of nitrogen in the film increases as the gas ratio of N2 to CH4 increases. At lower substrate temperatures, both the deposition rate and the nitrogen concentration increase. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the film increases from 12% to 40% as the substrate temperature is lowered from 26 degrees C to 5 degrees C.