Experimental design and modelling in the investigation of PECVD parameters effects on the structural and gas transport properties of plasma polysiloxane membranes

The experimental design method was used to investigate the PECVD parameters effects on the properties of plasma polysiloxane membranes synthesized using octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane or hexamethyldisiloxane as monomers. On a wide experimental range and with a minimum number of experiments, the use of such a statistical tool enabled us to set up complete and reliable correlations, in the form of polynomial models connecting the gas transport properties (H₂ permeability coefficient, H₂/N₂ ideal selectivity) and the structural properties (growth rate, density, organic/inorganic nature) of synthesized films with the two most influent synthesis parameters of the PECVD process: the input power (represented by the input voltage) and the monomer flux. The polynomial models enabled us not only to statistically confirm the effects of the PECVD parameters displayed by previous classical experimental studies, but also to model, in the mathematical sense, the evolution of each property of materials taking into account the first and second orders effects of both PECVD synthesis parameters. By the use of a performing statistical tool, we managed to improve the knowledge of relations between synthesis parameters/structure/properties relative to our process.     

Effects of the passivation layer deposition temperature on the electrical and optical properties of GaN-based light-emitting diodes

In this paper, silicon oxynitride is deposited through plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to serve as an antireflection passivation layer. We have studied the effects of the deposition temperature (from 100 to 300 °C) on the electrical and optical performances of GaN-LEDs. It is found that the light output of GaN-LEDs improves greatly after the deposition of SiON antireflection passivation layer at 200 °C and is better than that of GaN-LEDs whose layers are deposited at 100 and 300 °C. The electrical properties of GaN-LED do not degrade at 100 and 200 °C, but degrade significantly at 300 °C.     

Structural and optical properties of amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbonitride films produced by PECVD

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbonitride thin films (a-Si:C:N:H), deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSN) as monomer and Ar as feed gas, have been investigated for their structural and optical properties as a function of the deposition RF plasma power, in the range of 100-300 W. The films have been analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). From the analysis of the FT-IR spectra it results that the films become more amorphous and inorganic as RF plasma power increases. The incorporation of oxygen in the deposited layers, mainly due to the atmospheric attack, has been evaluated by XPS and FT-IR spectroscopy. Reflectance/transmittance spectra, acquired in the range of 200-2500 nm, allow to descrive the film absorption edge for interband transitions. A relationship between the optical energy band gap, deduced from the absorption coefficient curve, and the deposition RF plasma power has been investigated. The reduction of the optical energy gap from 3.85 to 3.69 eV and the broadening of the optical absorption tail with RF plasma power increasing from 100 to 300 W are ascribed to the growth of structural disorder, while the increase of the refractive index, evaluated at 630 nm, is attributed to a slight densification of the film. The AFM analysis confirms the amorphous character of the films and shows how the deposited layers become rougher when RF plasma power increases. The wettability of the film has been studied and related to the chemical composition and to the morphology of the deposited layers.     

PECVD介质膜性能研究

本文讨论了等离子体化学气相沉积(PECVD)方法生长的氮化硅薄膜的电学性能随生长条件的变化关系,得到了性能良好的氮化硅薄膜.结果表明这种介质膜达到了薄膜电致发光器件所要求的各个性能指标,是一种具有重要应用价值的介质薄膜材料.     

Nanoindentation measurements on modified diamond-like carbon thin films

In the present study, we explored the effect of metallic interlayers (Cu and Ti) and indentation loads (5-20 mN) on the mechanical properties of plasma produced diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films. Also a comparison has been made for mechanical properties of these films with pure DLC and nitrogen incorporated DLC films. Introduction of N in DLC led to a drastic decrease in residual stress (S) from 1.8 to 0.7 GPa, but with expenses of hardness (H) and other mechanical properties. In contrast, addition of Cu and Ti interlayers between substrate Si and DLC, results in significant decrease in S with little enhancement of hardness and other mechanical properties. Among various DLC films, maximum hardness 30.8 GPa is observed in Ti-DLC film. Besides hardness and elastic modulus, various other mechanical parameters have also been estimated using load versus displacement curves.     

Thermal stability of ultrathin amorphous carbon films synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and filtered cathodic vacuum arc

Abstract

Ultrathin hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) films of similar thickness deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) were subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) were used to study the structural stability of the films. While RTA increased the thickness of the intermixing layer and decreased the sp³ content of the a-C:H films, it did not affect the thickness or the sp³ content of the a-C films. The superior structural stability of the FCVA a-C films compared with PECVD a-C:H films, demonstrated by the TEM and EELS results of this study, illustrates the high potential of these films as protective overcoats in applications where rapid heating is critical to the device functionality and performance, such as heat-assisted magnetic recording.     

H2对Ar稀释SiH4等离子体CVD制备多晶硅薄膜的影响

以SiH₄，Ar和H₂为反应气体，采用射频等离子体化学气相沉积方法在300℃下制备了低温多晶Si薄膜.实验发现，反应气体中H₂的比例是影响薄膜结晶质量的重要因素，在适量的H₂比例下制备的多晶Si薄膜具有结晶相体积分数高，氢含量低，生长速率快、抗杂质污染等特性. 关键词： 低温多晶Si薄膜 等离子体CVD 4')" href="#">Ar稀释SiH₄ 2比例')" href="#">H₂比例     

Evolution and defect analysis of vertical graphene nanosheets

We report catalyst‐free direct synthesis of vertical graphene nanosheets (VGNs) on SiO₂/Si and quartz substrates using microwave electron cyclotron resonance – plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The evolution of VGNs is studied systematically at different growth stages. Raman analysis as a function of growth time reveals that two different disorder‐induced competing mechanisms contributing to the defect band intensity. The VGNs grown on SiO₂/Si substrates predominantly consists of both vacancy‐like and hopping defects. On the other hand, the VGNs grown on quartz substrates contain mainly boundary‐like defects. X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy studies also corroborate Raman analysis in terms of defect density and vacancy‐like defects for the VGNs grown on SiO₂/Si substrates. Moreover, the grown VGNs exhibit a high optical transmittance from 95% to 78% at 550 nm and the sheet resistance varies from 30 to 2.17 kΩ/sq. depending on growth time. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Growth of carbon nanotubes using nanocrystalline carbon catalyst

The basic growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) involves dissociation of hydrocarbon molecules over a metal layer as a catalyst. Generally, the metals used for the catalyst include nickel, cobalt, gold, iron, platinum, and palladium. However, the metal catalyst used with CNTs could have a harmful influence on the electrical properties of electronic devices. Therefore, we propose the use of nanocrystalline carbon (nc-C) as the catalyst for the growth of CNTs. We used a nc-C catalyst layer deposited by the closed-field unbalanced magnetron (CFUBM) sputtering method, and CNTs were grown by the hot filament plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (HF-PECVD) method with ammonia (NH₃) as a pretreatment and acetylene gas (C₂H₂) as a carbon source. The CNTs were grown on the nc-C layers pretreated with a variation of the pretreatment time. The characteristics of the pretreated nc-C layers and the grown CNTs were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. Also, the structural variation of the pretreated nc-C layers was investigated by Raman measurement. We used the nc-C catalyst without metal, and we confirmed that our CNTs were composed with only carbon elements through an EDS measurement. Also, the pretreatment time was attributed to the growth of CNTs.