Effect of deposition reactive gas ratio, RF power and substrate temperature on the charging/discharging processes in PECVD silicon nitride films based on induced surface potential and adhesive force measurements using atomic force microscopy

Heiba Zaghloul (1) , George Papaioannou (2) , Bharat Bhushan (3) , Haixia Wang (1) , Fabio Coccetti (1) , Patrick Pons (1) , Robert Plana (1)

1 LAAS-MINC - Équipe MIcro et Nanosystèmes pour les Communications sans fil
2 DI NKUA - Department of Informatics and Telecomunications [Kapodistrian Univ]
3 Nanoprobe Laboratory for Bio- and Nanotechnology and Biomimetics

The dependence of the electrical properties of silicon nitride, which is a commonly used dielectric in nanoand micro-electromechanical systems (NEMS and MEMS), on the deposition conditions used to prepare it and, consequently, on material stoichiometry has not been fully understood. In this paper, the influence of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition conditions on the dielectric charging of SiNx films is investigated. The work targets mainly the dielectriccharging phenomenon which constitutes a major failure mechanism in electrostatically driven NEMS/MEMS devices and particularly in capacitive MEMS switches. The charging/discharging processes are studied using two nanoscale characterization techniques: Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and, for the first time, force-distance curve (FDC) measurements. KPFM is used to investigate dielectric charging at the level of a single asperity, while FDC is employed to measure the multiphysics coupling between the charging phenomenon and tribological issues, mainly meniscus force. The electrical properties of the SiNx films obtained from both techniques show a very good correlation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy material characterization techniques are also used to determine the compositions and chemical bonds, respectively, of the SiNx films. An attempt to correlate between the chemical and electrical properties of SiNx films is made.

Mots clés: Adhesive force; dielectric charging; electrostatic microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); force-distance curve (FDC); Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM); reliability; RF MEMS switch; silicon nitride

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Heiba Zaghloul, George Papaioannou, Bharat Bhushan, Haixia Wang, Fabio Coccetti, et al.. Effect of deposition reactive gas ratio, RF power and substrate temperature on the charging/discharging processes in PECVD silicon nitride films based on induced surface potential and adhesive force measurements using atomic force microscopy. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2011, 20 (6), pp.1395-1417. ⟨hal-00670055⟩