Study of nitrous oxide plasma oxidation of silicon nitride thin films

A novel oxidation process for silicon nitride films of various compositions have been undertaken utilizing nitrous oxide (N 2 O) plasma. Careful studies using elastic backscattering (EBS) technique to determine the composition and capacitance–voltage ( C – V ) measurements to determine the insulator charge density ( Q o ) and the interface state density ( D it ) have been made on the films before and after N 2 O plasma oxidation. The incorporation of oxygen into the silicon nitride films of various compositions due to the N 2 O plasma treatment is confirmed. The insulator charge density ( Q o ) as well as the minimum interface state density ( D it ) min are observed to be more for the N 2 O oxidized samples compared with the corresponding virgin samples.