Ecofriendly silicon dioxide chemical vapor deposition for semiconductor devices using nitrogen monoxide gas source

The release of carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbon (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the industrial manufacturing processes involved in semiconductor device fabrication exacerbates climate change and global warming. The most common example is the production of silicon dioxide (SiO2) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for photovoltaic and/or thin film transistor (TFT) devices utilizing conventional CO2 and/or N2O as precursor gases. In this paper, we examine a PECVD-based SiO2 production for semiconductor devices using nitrogen monoxide (NO) precursor gases. To the best of our knowledge, such SiO2 production has not before been examined. As a result, the quality of the resulting SiO2 for the devices is unknown. NO gas seems to a be non-toxic source and has been utilized commonly in medicine. It will be potential to replace CO2 and N2O in the future for the ecofriendly purpose of manufacturing semiconductor devices as well. The deposition rate of SiO2 is seen to be ten times greater when NO precursor gas is used compared to when CO2 gas is employed. It is noteworthy that an alternate transition occurs from silicon oxide nitride (SiON) to silicon oxide (SiO2), whereby an increase in the flow of NO gas results in a lower refractive index and dielectric constant. Comprehensive analyses are provided on the process of forming stoichiometric SiO2. •Nitrogen monoxide (NO) is a promising source for replacing N2O and CO2 on PECVD-based SiO2 deposition.•Properties of PECVD-based SiO2 using NO source are reported for the first time.•Comprehensive analyses are provided on the process of forming stoichiometric SiO2.