Ultra thin silicon nitride prepared by direct nitridation using ammonia decomposed species

This paper reports about low-temperature nitridation of silicon surfaces using ammonia decomposed species generated on a heated tungsten filament. The surface of Si(100) was nitrided at low temperatures as low as 50 °C. The relation between nitridation time and nitridation layer thickness showed that the layer thickness follows the linear law for small nitridation time and a parabolic relationship for large time. The water contact angle measurements revealed that nitridation layer proceeds with island growth in the early stage of nitridation.