High and low thermal nitridation of SiO2 thin films

Thin thermal SiO₂ films on crystalline silicon substrate were nitrided at low ammonia pressures (10^-6P_NH310^-1 mbar) for times varying from 1 to 10 h, by means of two techniques. (i) Surface nitridation has been achieved by thermal activation at high temperature (HT), in the range 800–1100°C. (ii) A new process at low temperature (LT), was employed at T ≈ 30°C, under electron-beam irradiation; the nitridation-reaction rate depends on the electron energy (reaching a maximum within the energy range 1 to 2 keV), and on the electron flux. Conduction and electron trapping on the nitrided oxide films depends on the chemical compositions and on the amount of nitrogen incorporated into the bulk of the films and/or at the SiO₂-Si interface.