LASER STUDIES OF THE REACTIVITY OF NH(X3-SIGMA-) WITH THE SURFACE OF SILICON-NITRIDE

The reactivity of NH(X3SIGMA-)) with the surface of both a silicon nitride film and a depositing hydrogenated silicon nitride film has been measured to be essentially zero with an upper limit of 0. 1 for substrate temperatures of 300-700 K. The reactivity was directly determined using spatially resolved laser-induced fluorescence of NH in a plasma-generated molecular beam incident on the surface. The NH adsorbs and then desorbs from the surface with a spatial distribution consistent with a cosine angular distribution. No dependence of reactivity on rotational state of the NH was observed.