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arXiv · 2510.14701

Identification of formation of amorphous Si phase in SiOxNy films produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

M. V. Voitovych·A. Sarikov·V. O. Yukhymchuk·V. V. Voitovych·M. O. Semenenko
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Abstract

Peculiarities of formation of inclusions of amorphous Si (a-Si) phase in Si-rich Si oxynitride films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are studied by combined Raman scattering and infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. The Raman scattering results identify presence of a-Si phase in the studied films at the relative Si content exceeding a threshold value of about 0.4. The a-Si amount correlates with the concentration of hydrogen in the films, the presence of which is detected by characteristic IR absorption bands corresponding to Si-H bending (about 660 cm-1) and stretching (a composite band in the range of about 1900-2400 cm-1) vibrations. The method of deconvolution of IR absorbance spectra in the range of about 600 to 1300 cm-1 developed earlier is used to reliably separate the IR band at about 660 cm-1. This band is identified to origin from the amorphous Si phase within the studied Si oxynitride films. This makes it possible to propose IR spectroscopy with analysis of the low-wavenumber part of the spectra as an efficient method of identifying phase composition of Si-rich Si oxynitride films. The obtained results contribute to understanding of the regularities of formation of phase compositions of PECVD grown Si oxynitride films and are useful for controlling the films properties for practical applications.

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M. V. Voitovych, A. Sarikov, V. O. Yukhymchuk, V. V. Voitovych, M. O. Semenenko. 2025-10-16. Identification of formation of amorphous Si phase in SiOxNy films produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2026.117895

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