N$_2$ Plasma Treatment Effects of Silicon Nitride Insulator Layer for Thin Film Transistor Applications

We investigated to decrease the leakage current of SiNx film by employing $N_2$ plasma treatment. The insulator layers were prepared by two step process; the $N_2$ plasma treatment and then PECVD SiNx deposition with $SiH_4$, $N_2$ gases. To prove the influence of the $N_2$ plasma treatment, the Si substrate was exposed to the plasma, which was generated in Ne gas ambient. Without plasma treatment SiNx film grow at the rate of 7. 03 nm/min, has a refractive index n = 1.77 and hydrogen content of $2.16{\times}10^{22}cm^{-3}$ for $N_2/SiH_4$ gas flow ratio of 20. The obtained films were analyzed in terms of deposition rates, refractive index, hydrogen concentration, and electrical properties. By employing $N_2$ plasma treatment, interface traps such as mobile charges and injected charges were removed, hysteresis of capacitance-voltage (C-V) disappeared. We observed plasma treated sample were decreased the leakage current density reduces by 2 orders with respect to the sample having no plasma treatment.