Abstract
Using optical methods, data on optical constants are obtained for silicon nitride films synthesized by plasma-chemical vapor deposition (PCVD). Models for calculating the permittivity in the model of inhomogeneous phase mixture of silicon and silicon nitride are considered. It is found that the optical-absorption edge (E g) and the photoluminescence peak shift to longer wavelengths with increasing nitrogen atomic fraction x in sin x films. When x approaches the value 4/3 characteristic for stoichiometric silicon nitride Si3N4, a nonlinear sharp increase in E g is observed. Using Raman scattering, Si-Si bonds are revealed, which confirms the direct formation of silicon clusters during the film deposition. The relation between the composition of nonstoichiometric silicon nitride films, values of permittivity, and the optical-band width is established for light transmission.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. M. Gorshkov, Ellipsometry (Sovetskoe Radio, Moscow, 1974) [in Russian].
V. N. Novikov, A. P. Sokolov, O. A. Golikova, et al., Fiz. Tverd. Tela (Leningrad) 32, 1515 (1990) [Sov. Phys. Solid State 32, 884 (1990)].
J. Tauc, in Optical Properties of Solids, Ed. by F. Abeles (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1972), p. 277.
D. E. Aspnes, Thin Solid Films 89, 249 (1982).
D. A. G. Bruggeman, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 24, 636 (1935).
V. I. Gavrilenko, A. M. Grekhov, D. V. Korbutyak, and V. G. Litovchenko, Optical Properties of Semiconductors: A Handbook (Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 1987) [in Russian].
F. Alvarez and A. A. Valladares, Phys. Rev. B 68, 205203 (2003).
L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. 8: Electrodynamics of Continuous Media, 2nd ed. (Nauka, Moscow, 1982; Pergamon, Oxford, 1984), Chap. 9, p. 67.
S. A. Arzhannikova, M. D. Efremov, V. A. Volodin, et al., Solid State Phenom. 108–109, 53 (2005).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © M.D. Efremov, V.A. Volodin, D.V. Marin, S.A. Arzhannikova, G.N. Kamaev, S.A. Kochubeĭ, A.A. Popov, 2008, published in Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, 2008, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 202–207.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Efremov, M.D., Volodin, V.A., Marin, D.V. et al. Variation in optical-absorption edge in SiN x layers with silicon clusters. Semiconductors 42, 202–207 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782608020152
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782608020152