Parylene-N films were formed on silicon substrates at a substrate temperature of −20 °C and pressures from 4 - 7 torr via liquid source precursor delivery. [2.2 ] Paracyclophane, the precursor of parylene-N, was dissolved in an organic solvent and delivered into a vaporizer / pyrolysis unit. The solution was vaporized at ∼ 200 °C and its vapor was cracked at ∼ 700 °C to generate the reactive morromeric species. Films were grown by condensation and polymerization, and analyzed by infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. These analyses indicated the formation of parylene-N films without detectable solvent contamination or incorporation into the polymeric films.

We propose a novel preparation of high quality silicon nitride (SiNx) films by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) method for the application of antireflection coatings. It is found that the refractive index (n) of the Cat-CVD SiNx films are controlled from 2.0 to 2.5 by varying the flow ratio of SiH4 and NH3. The properties of the SiNx (n = 2.0) are investigated, and it is found that, 1) the 16-BHF etching rate of the Cat-CVD SiNx film is only 23 A/min, and the film shows excellent moisture resistance, 2) the Cat-CVD SiNx film shows good insulating properties, and the breakdown electric field is higher than 9 MV/cm and the interface state density is 5.6x 1011 cm2eV-1, 3) the step coverage of the film is very conformal.

Silica film coatings were demonstrated using photo-chemical vapor deposition with a 172-nm Xe excimer lamp. Tetraethoxyorthosilicate (TEOS) molecules were successfully dissociated into SiO2+2C2H5-OH+;(residual C and H) with the 7.2-eV photons. The films were deposited onto a quartz or Al203 single crystal substrate with the deposition rate of 1 nm/min. The films were uniform and smooth enough for optical applications.

A simple LPCVD reactor has been used to deposit 3C-SiC on oxidized, bare and MBE carbonized Si (001) wafers. The deposition experiments were conducted at different temperatures, times and gas flows pyrolizing tetramehylsilane (TMS). Voids at the interface and hillock formation were observed preferentially on the bare Si substrates due to Si outdiffusion. The best LPCVD films were obtained at temperatures around 1170°C on smooth single-crystalline carbonized substrates. The nucleation and growth of 3C-SiC on Si02/Si substrates proceeds at a slower rate with the formation of 3D island with a high aspect ratio.

In this paper, the Selective Area Laser Deposition (SALD) technique was used to deposit silicon nitride material from the gas phase. Tetramethylsilane (TMS) and ammonia were chosen as precursors for silicon and nitrogen respectively. Effects of processing temperatures and gas ratios of TMS to total pressure (PTMS + PNH3) on the relative amounts of silicon nitride and the growth kinetics were studied. Further, surface morphology and electrical properties of the deposits were also examined. It is found that the as-deposited materials are mainly composed of amorphous phases and the heat-treated samples (at 1500°C for 8hrs) consist of α-Si 3N4, α-SiC and β-SiC. The amount of αz-Si3N4 decreases with the increase of the TMS pressure. The volume growth rate of deposits also increases with the TMS pressure. The apparent activation energy for these processes is estimated as 1 OOkJ/mol.

Zirconium carbide is an attractive ceramic material due to its unique properties such as high melting point, good thermal conductivity, and chemical resistance. The controlled preparation of zirconium carbide films of superstoichiometric, stoichiometric, and substoichiometric compositions has been achieved utilizing zirconium tetrachloride and methane precursor gases in an atmospheric pressure high temperature chemical vapor deposition system. Laminar and equiaxial microcrystalline morphologies were obtained for superstoichiometric and substoichiometric zirconium carbide; respectively, allowing cursory metallographic identification of composition. Observed reductions in film density associated with zirconium carbide films that contain additional free carbon or excess zirconium are reported. These changes in film density were found to be consistent with compositional changes. An apparently linear relationship (correlation of 0.99) between methane flow in this chemical vapor deposition system and zirconium carbide stoichiometry in the substoichiometric range deposited above ZrC0.61 has been observed.

Thin films of zirconia have been deposited by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Assisted CVD (ICP-PACVD) reactor from tetra (tert-butoxy)-zircon precursor diluted in Ar and O2 gas mixture. An independent RF generator is used to control carefully the substrate negative bias voltage during the deposition. Zirconia thin films, with thickness up to 10 microns were deposited on Si (100) polished wafers under different plasma conditions. Correlation between deposition parameters, and microstructure has been established showing that the ion bombardment has a large influence on the coating characteristics. In particular, the possibility of tailoring mechanical properties of the films by controlling the applied DC bias voltage is discussed.

Silicon dioxide (SiOx, x ≤ 2) films were plasma-deposited at a pressure of 1 Torr and low substrate temperature (≤ 300°C) by N20/lSiH4 flow. Deposition rates in the range 20–50 nm/min were achieved at 20 W rf source power. Deep level transient spectroscopy showed that no significant defect levels were introduced in the Si substrates at this low source power. The effects of flowrate ratio, R, of N2O/SiH4 and substrate temperature on film properties were determined using ex-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, prism coupler, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and chemical etching (P-etch). Near-stoichiometric oxide layers were obtained for R ≥ 1, and a decrease in deposition rate with increasing R was observed. The increase in refractive index for R ≤ 1 has been correlated to compositional changes in the thin films. Complementary results were obtained from FFIR and P-etch measurements. Nitrogen was present in the films deposited using R = 4.4, for which the depostion rate showed an Arrhenius-like relationship to substrate temperature. No OH-related bands were observed in our films.

In this paper, we present a process which has the benefits of operating at lower temperatures than conventional CVD, that uses low cost precursors, and produces only environmentally benign byproducts. This new method for depositing Ti, TiN, TiO2, and Ti.Siy thin films has been demonstrated using a coflow diffusion reactor to react Na metal vapor with TiCl4 as described by the following equation: 4Na(g) + TiCl4(g) ---Ar ---> Ti(s) + 4NaCl(g). In this reaction, sodium strips chlorine from titanium tetrachloride freeing titanium metal to grow into a thin film on a substrate placed in the reaction zone. TiN and TiO2 films were produced by the introduction of N2 gas or O2 gas into the reactor, respectively. Using this reaction chemistry, we have produced Ti and TiN thin films on Cu substrates at 610 °C (considerably lower than the 900 °C to 1200 °C required for conventional thermal CVD of titanium) and TiO2 and titanium silicides (TixSiy) films on silicon substrates. Thermodynamics calculations indicated that this class of chemistry is generic and that a wide range of metals and ceramics could be grown; and preliminary experiments do suggest that TiC and SiC thin films can be grown using this process. The thin films were primarily analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and Raman pectroscopy.

A quantitative experiment was designed to characterize in detail the backside silicon nodule formation (BSNF) on a single wafer reactor. It is found that there are two BSNF related vapor processes. One is the silicon mass transfer between wafer and wafer susceptor, which is controlled by the temperature difference between wafer and the susceptor. The other is the chemical vapor deposition process due to the presence of precursor (trichlorosilane) at the vicinity of the wafer backside. The contributions of these two processes to BSNF, however, have opposite dependencies on wafer temperatures. The silicon mass transfer from susceptor to wafer backside decreased with increasing wafer temperature. The trichlorosilane deposition increases with increasing wafer temperature. The effects of these two processes are also strongly dependent on susceptor configuration. It is found that having a wafer in direct contact with the susceptor could minimize the trichlorosilane deposition process, but silicon mass transfer is still present at the edge of the wafers. This study demonstrates that careful process control and susceptor design are necessary to eliminate wafer backside deposition.

Diamond electrodes possess unique chemical stability, a very wide potential window of water stability, and low background currents. These properties give rise to numerous possible applications, for example, electrosynthesis and electrodestruction reactions at extreme potentials and environmental conditions and as a sensor electrode in aggressive environments. Furthermore, the study of semiconducting diamond electrodes promises to lead to greater understanding of the surface chemistry of diamond and of electronic levels and surface states in doped diamond. In this paper the reactivity of diamond electrodes and their use in a molten salt environment, as a sensor element, and for characterizing diamond are discussed.

Typically, diamond chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is conducted at pressures of 10 to 100 Torr and temperatures of 700 - 1000 °C. Both thermally activated (hot-filament) and plasma enhanced (DC, microwave) systems are used to deposit diamond from mixtures of hydrogen and some carbon-containing monomer, most typically methane. These systems may produce films of high phase purity which typically exhibit tensile intrinsic (non-thermal) growth stresses. We have used an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) enhanced plasma system to deposit diamond films at a pressure of 1 Torr over a temperature range of 550 - 700 °C using methyl alcohol as the carbon source. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to analyze the plasma discharge for the determination of active species present during diamond growth. Correlations of emission variations with film characteristics were made to evaluate their importance in the diamond formation process. Particular emphasis was placed on the nature of the intrinsic growth stresses developed in this process, which appeared to be consistently compressive in nature based on Raman analysis.

We have investigated enhancement of diamond nucleation due to electrode biasing and compared these results with those obtained using substrate biasing. The electrode biasing results in near-surface dc glow discharge with characteristic negative glows and dark regions on both sides of the electrode (cathode). We have studied systematically diamond nucleation density as a function of substrate location with respect to the electrode and gas pressure. Using scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, we have determined that a significant enhancement up to 109 cm-2 in diamond nucleation is achieved when the substrate is located in the negative glow region of the near-surface dc glow discharge. It is also found that gas pressure enhances nucleation site density but the quality of diamond decreases. The optimization of these parameters in obtaining high-quality diamond films is discussed.

Homoepitaxial diamond films were grown on polished single crystal {100} oriented natural type Ila diamond circular substrates using high density microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). Twelve homoepitaxial diamond films were grown under a variety of substrate temperatures (1000 C-2000 C), methane concentration (1% - 3% in hydrogen gas) and processing pressure(60 - 150 torr). Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies demonstrate that nitrogen is largely incorporated as singly substitutional impurity (P1-center) and nitrogen's concentration is in the range of 10 -100 parts per million. Nitrogen's concentration also shows a systematic decrease with increasing substrate temperatures. The temperature variation of nitrogen at high temperatures is discussed within a model where single substitutional nitrogen aggregates to form nitrogen defects which are not EPR active.

Polymer Multi-Layer (PML) processing is a high speed industrial scale process for depositing thin polymer films. Moving substrates of arbitrary width can have one micron (typ.) polymer films deposited at speeds measured in hundreds of meters per minute. A wide variety of chemical functionality available in the precursor materials allows a variety of chemical, electrical, and optical applications. The polymer characteristics can be further augmented by subsequent deposition of inorganic materials. Recent advances with dielectric, electrolytic, photonic, barrier, chemical affinity, energetic, and piezoelectric thin film polymer materials are discussed.

The new, patented Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition (CCVD) process holds promise for low cost, high throughput manufacturing of thin film ceramic coatings with composition and microstructure tailored for specific applications in electronic, optic, anti-corrosion and anti-wear applications. The flame-based CCVD process is an open-air, non-vacuum, environmentally friendly process with the ability to produce coatings of equal or superior quality to those produced by conventional vacuum-based methods. Capital and operating costs for CCVD coating systems are significantly lower than, for example, conventional CVD and PVD technologies. As an open-atmosphere process, ccvD can be easily implemented in a continuous production line environment, avoiding the need for vacuum load-locks. MicroCoating Technologies has used CCVD to deposit over 60 different inorganic materials onto a variety of substrates ranging from metals and polymers to ceramics. Multi-layered films of complex composition have been achieved with excellent stoichiometric control. We review the CCVD process and characteristics of representative coatings

Water was used as a substrate and carbon films were obtained from methane gas on the water by ArF excimer laser. The film was analyzed by a SEM, elementary analysis, Raman spectrum and FT-IR. Moreover synthesized position of the film was studied.

Iron and steel samples have been treated in overheated salt -water vapor environment (oxy-doping technique). SEM and optical microscope images of modified surface demonstrated that coating with three distinct layers was deposited. XPS, XRD and SEM + EDA studies were used for the composition evaluation, and non-uniform distribution of dopants was found. Tribological properties were determined, and it was found improvement of working characteristics in 2–10 times. Thermally enhanced difflusion model describing the coating formation was discussed.

Photon stimulated reaction of chlorine at ZnSe surface was observed at room temperature in the photon range from 4 eV to 12 eV. Estimated quantum efficiency is about 1, depending on the photon range and gas pressure. The study of reaction products was performed with AES, XPS and SEM with Energy Dispersion Analysis. A model based on photon stimulated diffusion of dissociated gas atoms is dicussed. Comparison to C12/GaAs and XeF2/Si systems was made.Effective laser ablation of the ZnCI2 films deposited with masks was exploited for direct patterning. The ultimate resolution obtained was restricted with diffraction limit,

Microstructure of dispersion hardened composites (DC) Cu-Al2O3 prepared by simultaneous vacuum vapor condensation of Cu and A12O3 was studied by X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy methods. After high temperature annealing at 900°C for 2 hours the composites retain the submicrocrystalline structure and high level of strength -0.9 GPa. It has been found that strain hardening of vacuum deposited Cu-A12O3 composites takes place in three stages that is not typical for well-known composites of metallurgical origin.