Identification of segregation from borophosphosilicate glass films during annealing

The structure and crystallinity of a segregation on a borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) film have been clarified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), transmission electron diffraction (TED), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The segregation arises on the BPSG film surface after annealing in nitrogen ambient. Its size is below 0.5 μm. The segregation is identified as crystalline BPO4 from the results of TED and EELS. In this letter, TED pattern of crystalline BPO4 is indicated in detail. The growth mechanism of crystalline BPO4 is proposed on the basis of a series of the results.