Effect of Pulsed Substrate Bias on Film Properties of SiO2 Deposited by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

A high-quality SiO2 film was successfully achieved at a temperature of 150 °C by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD) with a bipolar pulsed bias applied to a substrate. When the SiO2 film was deposited without the pulsed substrate bias, its density rapidly decreased and its insulating property deteriorated. However, its densification was enhanced and its insulating property was improved by the pulsed substrate bias even though the deposition rate increased. A leakage current of less than 10.0 nA/cm2 and a breakdown voltage of 5.2 MV/cm at 1.0 µA/cm2 were obtained at a temperature of 150 °C with a deposition rate of 18.0 nm/min.