Silicon nitride thin films have been deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique at temperatures from 700℃ to 1200℃ using $NH_3$ and $SiCl_4$ as reactant gases. The deposition was carried out at atmospheric pressure. The effects of the temperature and reactant composition on the deposition rate have been studied.
The kinetic model of the heterogeneous reaction for $SiCl_4-NH_3-H_2$ system is proposed.
Electrical evaluation was made by measuring C-V characteristics of nitride layer. The measurement was made through MIS (metal-insulator-semiconductor) structure.
The surface charge stored in MIS structure has been investigated for different deposition temperatures. Results show that dielectric constant of silicon nitride ranges from 3.9-4.3. The surface charge within MIS is found to be greater than that of thermal $SiO_2$ and dependent on the deposition temperature of $Si_3N_4$.
