By Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication
The process Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) combines silicon with oxygen or nitrogen to create a plasma that deposits a thin film of silicon dioxide or silicon nitrate onto a substrate. PECVD uses lower temperatures than the furnace systems to achieve an insulating layer on a variety of materials. The uses PECVD is used in optics, microelectronics, energy applications, packaging and chemistry for the deposition of anti-reflective coatings, scratch resistant transparent coatings, electronically active layers, passivation layers, dielectric layers, isolating layers, etch stop layers, encapsulation and chemical protective coatings. The instruments The PECVD system at MCN is an Oxford Instruments PLASMALAB100 PECVD and it is capable of depositing silicon dioxide and silicon nitride using a combination of gases. The system caters for a range of sample sizes up to and including eight inch wafers. Deposition temperatures range from 25°C to 350°C.
